


Jack

by NinjetteTwitch



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-04 23:02:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1796524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinjetteTwitch/pseuds/NinjetteTwitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heero has been gone for a year. Relena is having a hard time dealing with it. Then she finds Jack. But what is the secret surrounding this mysterious man? And why is Duo trying so hard to keep them apart? 1xR</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: So here’s the disclaimer. The characters are not mine; the show is not mine, blah blah blah. This story is mine though. So enjoy what my mind has to offer. R&R, please! I need insights!

~*~v~*~

He looked up from behind the counter when the bell from the door chimed to let him know someone walked in. There she was again. His breath caught in his throat. She was dressed in a simple yellow sundress that came just below her knee with a big sun hat that shielded her face from the ever blinding sun. Even with the gigantic sunglasses she wore that were way too big for her face, he could pick her out in a crowd. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and his heart raced every time she came into this shop. She looked around the store toward her usual table and upon seeing it emptied, she walked towards it, glancing at him over her glasses. He hurriedly put down the newspaper he had been reading and came around the counter to meet her at her table as she sat down.

“Ms. Relena,” he greeted with a smile.

“Good morning, Jack. How are you today?” She replied, returned the smile with a genuine one of her own.

“I’m good. It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you as well. You aren’t getting tired of me already?” She joked.

“Never, Ms. Relena! Your usual?”

“That would be lovely, Jack. Thank you.” He could feel her eyes on him as he walked around back around the counter to make her coffee. He had been working at the coffee shop as long as he could remember and she always came in. At first it was just occasionally. Then, occasionally turned into once a week. Recently she had been coming in more and more. This would be the third time this week. She always had a guard with her, as she was the Vice Foreign Minister, but she always made them stay outside. He felt bad for them and one time, he brought both men a coffee. They looked at him strangely and politely declined. 

He felt her eyes still on him as he finished up her hot drink. He looked up at her but she quickly looked away, reaching into her tote and pulling out a book. He smiled a slight smile as he came back around the counter once again. 

“Here you are, Ms. Relena,” he said as he set her coffee down in front of her.

“Thank you so much. And please, Jack. I’ve told you before. It’s just Relena.” She smiled that amazing smile, her blue eyes meeting his. He nodded at her once before turning back to walk behind the counter and absentmindedly whipped it down with a cloth. After a minute, he looked back up at her. She was now engrossed in her book, giving her time to look her over again.

He didn’t understand what it was about her. Everyone loved Relena Darlian. This part was common knowledge. She stood for what she believed in. She achieved peace on Earth as well as the colonies and maintained it. She had her enemies, as did most politicians. But she had guards surrounding her constantly. She was well protected, or so the media proclaimed. For some reason, he felt differently. He was pulled to her, a pull unlike anything he had felt before. He wanted to protect her, to shield her from any hurt, to comfort her, to hold her. He couldn’t deny this feeling he got when she was around. Even in the confines of his apartment, he thought of her. When she was on the news, he would watch. He had the strange feeling that he was able to protect her. He knew it was silly. Wishful thinking, he supposed. He was sure the VFM had a tall, dashing man to go home to at the end of the night; guards surrounding her constantly. He knew all of that. It still didn’t ease his mind. 

He sighed and ran his hand through his chestnut hair, turning his attention back towards another customer who was leaving. He muttered his appreciation for them coming into the shop and went to clean off their table as they walked out of the door. He glanced around to notice that only he and Relena remained in the coffee house. A slight blush crept upon his cheeks when he looked over at Relena and realized she had also noticed this. She was smiling at him. His breath caught. He tore his eyes from hers and proceeded to take the empty coffee cup from the table he had just cleared off and put it into the dishwasher in the back room. When he came out, she was watching him. After a deep breath, he walked to her with a smile.

“Would you like another cup, Ms. Relena?” he asked politely.

“That would be lovely. Also, I’d like you to bring an extra cup over as well, please,” she replied, sliding her cup across the table to him.

“Sure thing.” He picked up her cup and headed towards the counter. “Expecting company?” He called over his shoulder.

“I hope,” he heard her mutter softly. He gracefully poured the drink, mixing it the way he knew she liked it. He returned to the table, setting her mug in front of her and the other across the table.

“Anything else I can get for you?” he asked, his hands coming together behind his back.

“Yes, actually. I would like for you to join me.” She replied, looking up at him. Her eyes burned into his ever growing wide ones. “Sit.” She commanded after a moment. He obeyed. They both sat in silence for a few moments. He played with the spoon in his mug, stirring it for no apparent reason. Finally, she spoke. “So, how are you, Jack? How is life treating you?”

“It’s going well, Ms. Relena. Just working all the time.”

“Are you happy?” Relena almost interrupted him. He was taken aback by the question. What an odd thing to ask.

“I…suppose? Yeah. Yeah, I guess I’m happy. How about you? Are you happy?” He asked, one eye brow lifted lightly questioningly. She gave him a small smile, looking at him as if from a distance.

“For the most part, I guess I am.” She stared out the window. It was starting to get dark outside. Ominous clouds were starting to roll in and people along the streets hurried in to their house as the impending storm threatened the skies. She finally turned back to look at him. “Do you live far from here?”

“Not too far. A few blocks away.” She nodded in response.

“I’m sure you have a lovely lady waiting at home for you. I should like to meet her one day.” She smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. He chuckled, looking at his coffee as he stirred, one arm laid across the back of the booth.

“Maybe you will one day,” he said, smiling at her. “I think you will like her. Her name is Carrie.”

“Carrie?” She replied hesitantly. There was a hint of sadness in her voice but he didn’t know why. “She sounds nice.”

“She is great. Beautiful. Fun. Tan hair and a long nose. Very affectionate. She will kiss you all over your face if you’re not careful.” His smile grew as a confused look came over her face. She was so adorable when she looked confused. He hadn’t seen an expression on her yet he didn’t adore. “Carrie is my dog.” He tacked on. Laughter, almost relief, came over her features and he laughed with her.

“Your dog! Oh!” She let out a big sigh and her hand went to her heart. “Yes, I would love to meet her.” She said with a smile. “What kind of dog is she?”

“She’s a mutt. I know she has some chow in her. And it looks like some golden retriever. I’m not entirely sure though. A girl that works here found her and her two brothers in a box at the dump.” That received an “Aww” from the woman across the table from him. “Yeah,” he continued. “I took Carrie and some of my co-workers took her two brothers.”

“That’s so sweet of you. I can’t understand how anyone could just leave puppies like that. It’s horrible. I could never do that to any animal.” She scrunched up her nose and shook her head in disgust, looking down at the table. He chuckled at her again, making her raise her head up to look at him.

“I don’t think you could ever intentionally hurt anyone. You’re much too good of a person.” A blush crept onto her cheeks and he could feel his ears flush in response. She took his hand in her’s over the table.

“Thank you. You are too.” She said, giving him the sweetest look he thought he had ever seen. A boom came from outside. They both turned to look to see lightening flash across the sky and raining started failing. The blond took her hand back and slowly stood. “I should be going. It was good to see you again, Jack.”

“It’s always good to see you as well, Ms. Relena.” He replied as he stood with her. She moved to pay for the check, but he snatched it away. “I got it.” She smiled at him again; that smile he claimed for his own. Slowly, she turned around and headed for the door. He watched as her guard opened it for her, holding out an umbrella so she didn’t get wet on her way to her car. He walked to the door and watched her drive away as he locked up for the night. The smile never left his lips as he cleaned up the shop and headed home, his chestnut hair darkening as it got wet from the rain.

~*~^~*~


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2! Woot! Me bes on a roll. Considering I have an 11 month old now, it hard to write. Doing the best I can!

Who is Jack? And why is Relena so interested in him? Hmmm…..we shall find out soon enough. Maybe in this chapter….maybe not. Who knows! I sure don’t….

You probably already figured it out though, huh? Yeah….it’s not hard to guess….^_^

Me: So, yeah. If a sentence is italicized, it’s a thought. 

Lawyer: *peeks head into chapter* Hello! I’m back as well! And I brought coooookies! 

Me: Lawyer-dude!!! I’ve missed you! *hugs* Sued anyone good lately?

Lawyer: Oh yes! Rollin’ in the Benjamins!

Me: Share the wealth, buddy ol pal.

Lawyer: Uhhh….on with the chapter!!!

Me: -_-‘

~*~v~*~

Relena rode home in silence, not speaking to her guards or driver; just staring out of the window as the rain flew into the side of the limo. She knew she was being selfish; knew she shouldn’t go into that coffee shop; knew she shouldn’t see him. So many things could go wrong. Everything could be ruined in a moment. 

She just couldn’t help it.

The limo finally stopped in front of the Peacecraft manor. Although she kept her foster parents’ name, she still lived in her birth family’s home, taking on the responsibilities of being a Peacecraft as well as a Darlian. It made for long days and occasionally longer nights, but she did what she could to hold up her families’ names and keep peace throughout the galaxy. She had her days where it all felt like too much but then again, didn’t everybody? It was days like those that she missed him the most. Heero. He had left about a year. There was nothing she could do about that. Instead, on those dark days when she needed her best friend, her confidant, she relied on the stuffed bear he had given her for her birthday all those years ago. It seemed like so long ago now. Tonight would be one of those nights. She already had it planned out in her head. She would curl up with her bear tonight and talk to it as if it were him. She would find comfort in the fact that she could spill her heart into something that would listen to her the way he used to.

Her car door opened and the rain was momentarily stopped by an umbrella being held by her guard. “Thank you, Harold,” she muttered as he walked her to her door. He said goodnight to her as she stepped into her home. She removed her shoes at the door, so as to not track water and cause more of a mess for the maids. She walked toward the kitchen, intending to brew herself a cup of tea before bed. Very lightly, she treaded into the room toward the counter.

“Nice of you to join us, Princess,” a voice made her jump behind her. She knew it immediately and tensed, knowing what was coming. The name of endearment he had bestowed upon her was used all the time, whether he was upset with her or he was joking around. He was very rarely upset. Slowly, she turned, facing his blue eyes with hers. He was leaned against the opposite wall, arms crossed. She mustered the best innocent looking smile she could before turning back to the counter.

“Hello, Duo!” She replied as cheerfully as she could manage. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Well now, that’s strange,” he replied, pushing himself off the wall and walking towards her. He leaned on the counter directly next to her as he had against the wall. Looking at her, he added, “You know, since we had a dinner date and all.”

Her heart dropped into her stomach. Dammit! She had forgotten all about the dinner date with her friends, Duo and Hilde. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, mentally cursing herself as she turned to face him.

“Duo, I’m so sorry. I just lost track of time. Where is Hilde?”

“She’s at home, pretty disappointed. Where were you?” She looked away from him and turned back to the counter.

“I am sorry, Duo. I’m sure Hilde is upset with me. Maybe tomorrow we can…” But she was cut short as Duo grabbed her shoulders and forced her to face him. She gasped, not expecting this from him. The braided man wasn’t his normal, giddy self. He was very serious. It was a side of him Relena was not particularly fond of, especially since she knew she was the cause this go-round.

“Where. Were. You?” He said slowly, still lightly holding on to her shoulders. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t have the nerve. But then, she knew that was a full blown answer to him. He dropped his hands in an exasperated motion and stepped away from her, pacing the kitchen. She stood still facing the direction he positioned her in. “I thought we talked about this, Relena?”

“I’m sorry. This was the last time.” Her voice shook and she refused to look at him, continuing to stare at the wall across from her. It was not normal for him not to be his goofy self. The disappointment in his voice tore her up and made her want to cry. But she held it in.

“You said that last time!” He yelled. She turned to face him as he walked back to her. “We agreed, Relena. We all agreed! You want him to be happy, don’t you?” She felt the tears start rolling down her face but she held her ground. She couldn’t talk or she would lose it. She just stood there, tears streaming. After a moment, he sighed and pulled her to his chest. As he wrapped his arms around her, she could hold it anymore. She wrapped her arms around his waist and cried into his shoulder. He tightened his grip around her and ran his hand through her hair. “Relena, I know it’s hard. I know it hurts. We have to be strong about this. This is for the best. This is how it has to be.” She cried into his shoulder. “Please, Relena. Promise me you won’t go back there. Promise.”

 

“I promise,” she whispered into his chest. 

~*~

She walked into her room and closed her door lightly behind her. After her breakdown with Duo, they had sat down and drank a cup of tea together, discussing politics and friends and Duo trying his best to make her laugh. And she did. He always did have of way of brightening up the room and for that she couldn’t be more grateful. She was really going to try not to go back to that coffee house again. 

She stripped off her sundress and grabbed her black pajama pants and a blue guinea tee. Both were too big as neither of them were hers. They were his and she wore them every night to bed. She jumped in the shower, quickly washing herself and her hair before putting on her jammies. She sighed, walking into her quiet room, drying her hair with a towel. Throwing the towel in the corner of the room, she walked to her vanity and sat down. The blond braided her hair to keep it out of her face while she was sleeping. It would also make her hair a bit wavy tomorrow when it dried and she undid it before her meeting in the morning. She filled her days with political meetings, lunches with delegates and senators, gallant balls at night, anything to keep herself busy. When she wasn’t doing all of that, she spend her time with Hilde and Duo and Quatra. 

They had truly become her very best friends. Hilde and Duo had moved back to Earth a few months ago to keep her company. As much as she hated the fact that they had uprooted their life just for her, she couldn’t be more appreciative of her two friends. She didn’t know what she would do all the time without them. They were her shoulder and her pedestal. 

She saw Quatra quite a lot. He was the representative of the L4 Colony now and would come to Earth constantly for meetings. He spent more time on Earth in a year than he did on his colony. In order to help her friend, she gave him a room in her mansion. She definitely didn’t need them all and there was no point for him to constantly get hotel rooms when she had plenty to offer. Down the hall from her room was his. He had clothes and belongings he kept there to prevent him from having to pack every trip. She loved having him around when he came. It gave her someone else to talk to. He would be coming to Earth soon and she was excited to see him. The media always buzzed, starting rumors about the two of them having a secret relationship. She couldn’t really blame them when Quatra was staying at her place whenever he came. The two just laughed at it though and let the media have their fun. 

Trowa was with Catherine. Together they still ran the circus. Relena had met Catherine a few times and really liked her. Trowa was still a Preventer and came whenever he was needed. She knew he and Quatra still kept in close communication. They had become close friends during the war and now they remained even better friends. She liked Trowa a lot. He was the tall, silent type but he was very nice and could crack a joke or two when he wanted. 

She didn’t know much about Wufie. She had seen him on a few occasions since the war. He was a Preventer as well. All the pilots were. He had even been her guard for a while until…… Sally knew the best way to get a hold of him when there was a call for him. He traveled everywhere. He was rude and arrogant and thought little of the female species, but he was a good person on the inside. His bark was far worse than his bite.

Relena stood from her vanity and walked to her bed. She pulled the blanket back and climbed in, grabbing her favorite teddy bear from the opposite side of the bed. Lying down, she cuddled inside her blanket with her prized possession. A tear rolled down her cheek as she drifted off to sleep. 

~*~

*A flash of white light!*

She sat in front of her vanity, ready for the meeting. A knock came from her door.

“Come in,” She called out. Her door opened and she turned to see Heero walk in, closing the door behind him. She smiled and looked him up and down as he approached her. Dressed in a pair of black pants, a gray t-shirt, and his Preventers jacket, he really was the epitome of a man. She stood and met him half way across the room. “Is the car here?” She said as she approached him.

“Hn.” He reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She grinned and took a step back, twirling around so he could see her full, white pants suit.

“How do I look?” She raised her arms up.

“Incomplete,” he replied. Her smile dropped with her arms. He stepped towards her, reaching in his pocket and pulling out a black box. She looked at him confused until he opened it, revealing its contents to her. Inside was a silver chain, donned with a silver dove holding an olive branch. She gasped, one hand going to her chest, the other reaching out to touch the dove.

“Heero, this is beautiful.” She breathed. He took it out of the box as she turned to the full length mirror. Coming up behind her, he moved her hair to lie over shoulder and placed the necklace around her neck, latching the hook. Her hand reached back up to touch the dove again. He watched her reflection over her shoulder. “Thank you, Heero.” She turned her head to look at him behind her. He looked back at her, his face inches from hers.

*Flash*

Relena stood at the podium, speaking her ideals of the Mars Terraformation Project to the sea of official looking people before her. Her eyes scanned the room, making sure they let everyone know she was speaking directly to them. Although her notes sat in front of her, she knew the speech by heart. She had gone over it time and time again, making sure every detail was perfect, even telling it to Heero to get his opinion. Heero now stood to her left, her ever silent protector. Duo was to her right, looking around the room in a manner so serious it was humorous. Sometimes he just tried too hard.

Suddenly, she felt someone shove her to the ground from her left side. A loud bang ricocheted around the room. Screaming and panic ensued as she heard people scrambling to their feet to leave the big hall. More shots sounded from her right side and she ducked her head to the floor.

*Flash!*

“Son of a bitch!” She heard from above her. “Princess, get up!” Duo called, grabbing her arm and dragging her up to a standing position. She looked out into the sea of running people to see some Preventers had a man in custody that appeared to have at least one gunshot wound. He was struggling against their hold and screaming profanities at her but she hardly seemed to notice. She looked down at herself, noticing she was covered in blood. Her hands flew over her body, checking herself over. I wasn’t hit. Duo suddenly cried out behind her.

“Dammit! No! Call an ambulance! Now!” She whipped around to see Duo straddling Heero on the ground. The pilot was covered in his own blood with a bullet wound to his chest and a very nasty gash across the side of his head. His breathing was getting more ragged. Duo was holding the man’s chest, applying pressure to try and stop the bleeding. Relena covered her mouth to stifle her scream as she felt a hand grab her arm and begin pulling her away. This couldn’t be happening. Heero. She tried to escape the grasp of whoever had her in his grip and run to the man she loved, but strong arms wrapped around her waist and picked her up.

“No! Let me go!” She cried out as she wiggled. The man’s grip tightened.

“Relena, we have to get you out of here!” Quatra yelled and she realized it was he who had a hold of her.

“Heero!” She screamed as she was carried away.

*Flash!* 

“How is he?” Duo said as Sally walked into the waiting room. Hilde stood at her side with her arm around Relena’s waist in comfort as they awaited the news.

“Stable.” Sallie replied. “For now. The bullet punctured his right lung. It has led to traumatic pneumothorax….”

“English, doc,” Duo interrupted. Relena was sure Sally would have explained whether Duo had interrupted her or not but she understood the braided man’s impatience. 

“It’s when the lung collapses. When his lung was punctured by the bullet, it released air into his chest. The air put pressure on his lung, causing it to collapse. With the surgery, I’ve pulled the air out of his chest and closed the hole. Now he needs to heal. But there’s more.” Everyone waited in silence for Sally to continue. She took a deep breath before proceeding. “Heero hit his head on something on the way down, presumably the podium. He’s suffering from cerebral edema, which is swelling of the brain.” Relena sucked in a breath. “We are doing several things to combat this,” Sally continued. “We’re using IVs and oxygen therapy by use of a respirator. If the swelling continues, we will have to try some more drastic measures.”

“Such as?” Hilde dared to ask. Sally took a deep breath before responding.

“Hypothermia.”

*Flash*

Relena stood outside of his hospital room, looking in on him through the window as a nurse checked his vitals. Tears were dried in streams down her cheeks, but seeing him now threatened to create new ones. Her left arm crossed her stomach as her other held her hand to her mouth, chewing on her thumb nail. She just couldn’t believe this was happening. This morning he was helping her go over that damned speech that seemed so silly right this very second. This morning he was telling her she was going to do great. This morning he was okay. Now he was in a hospital room, attached to wires and hoses with an oxygen mask on his face. Trowa came to stand beside her as he looked in at his fellow pilot. 

“He will be ok, you know. Heero always pulls through.” He said, not looking at her. She in turn didn’t look at him. Instead, she continued to stare at the man in the room, not being able to take her eyes away from him. The tears finally started to run when she heard the tall man next to her speak. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her toward him. She laid her head against his shoulder, still refusing to take her eyes away from Heero.

*Flash*

She stood in his room, staring at him from the door. His chest rose and fell with his shallow breathing. Beside her, Quatre wrapped his arm around her. She laid her head on his shoulder as he rubbed her arm in comfort.  
“You have to be strong, Relena. He pulls his strength from you, you know. He always has.” He said to her softly.

*Flash*

She paced the hall way outside of his room, one arm across her stomach; the other held up to bite her thumb nail. She could feel Duo’s eyes on her as he waited for her answer. Trowa leaned against the wall, his arms crossed against his chest. His eyes were closed but he was listening intently. Hilde sat in a chair, her hands in her lap and her eyes to the floor. Quatre stood in the middle of the hall, watching with sad eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck. The hall was silent. Finally, Duo spoke up.

“Relena,” he started softly. She stopped pacing but didn’t look at him. “We need to decide.” She sucked in a breath but still remained silent. She dropped her hand to cross over her stomach as well. “We have two options.” He paused. “And as much as it hurts…..I think we should go with the second.” Relena swallowed, staring at the floor. Slowly she nodded her agreement. At that moment, arms surrounded her and she buried her head into Quatre’s chest and just cried. From behind, she felt Duo put his arms around her as well. Within seconds, the five heartbroken people had joined into one big group hug. 

*Flash* 

Alone in his room, Relena stood over his bed and watched his chest rise and fall. She didn’t know how she was going to do this. Her heart was hurt. It was broken. Tears fell from her eyes once again. That’s all she seemed to be doing lately. Crying. 

She sat on the side of his bed, taking him in one more time. Slowly, she removed his oxygen mask just for a second. She leaned in, her face barely an inch from his. She could feel his shallow breath on her.

“I love you, Heero Yuy. I have always loved you. And I always will. I will never stop.” She whispered. She closed the distance and pressed her lips against his.

~*~

Relena sat straight up in bed. She was drenched in sweat with tears covering her face. She looked around the dark room, confused for a few second as to where she was. She took in a deep sigh as realization came over her. She twisted in the bed, looking for her rock. Upon finding her bear, she grabbed him and held him tight to her chest. She looked toward her bedside table, checking to see what time it was. The clock read 3:42 am. She sighed again and fell back onto the bed. There would be no more sleep tonight.

~*~^~*~

Just so everyone knows, a guinea tee is another name for tank top. I’m Italian and that’s what we call them. ;)

Lawyer: Learn something new every day.

Me: Yup yup! ^_^ Oh, also, I looked up all that medical stuff. Yeah….I did my research  Hope you’re enjoying so far!

(BTW. My lawyer friend is from my story Sk8er Boi, which I’m currently redoing because I wrote it over 10 years ago and MAN did my grammar suck!)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lawyer: So…..yeah……that last chapter was longer than the first…..did you mean for that to happen?
> 
>  
> 
> Me: No….
> 
>  
> 
> Lawyer: So….you just couldn’t stop?
> 
>  
> 
> Me: ……yeah…..
> 
>  
> 
> Lawyer: Allllrighty then. You know Gundam Wing isn’t yours, right?
> 
>  
> 
> Me: Yeah…..I know…. L
> 
>  
> 
> Lawyer: Good! J Continue!
> 
>  
> 
> Me: ……..

 

~*~v~*~

 

Jack winced, feeling a long tongue cross his cheek.  He waved his arm in the air at his assailant and rolled over, drawing the blanket over his head.  After a moment, he smiled, still not opening his eyes, as he felt nuzzling around on the bed.  Suddenly, his furry companion made her way up the bed underneath the blanket toward her master.  He pretended to still be asleep, feeling her sniff around his face.   Carrie pawed at his chest until he finally gave in.  He let his smile show as he looked down at his friend.  Her ears perked up and her head tilted to the side showing her excitement. 

 

“’Morning, girl.”  He said, scratching her ears.  She barked once and licked his cheek again.  He laughed at her.  She rolled onto her back and looked up at him.  “You need to go out?”  He asked.  She rolled back onto her stomach, jumping up and barking.  He laughed at her again, pulling the blanket off of the two of them.  Carrie jumped off of the bed, ran to the door, ran back to Jack, ran to door, ran back to Jack.  He ran his ringers through his chestnut hair as he followed his bounding pup to the front door.  He unlocked and opened it, letting the sun hit him in the face.  Carrie ran down the steps of the house and to the nearest tree.  Jack crossed his arms, leaned against the door frame, and looked at the world around him to give his girl her privacy.  He lived in a small neighborhood.  The houses were little cottages made of brick, most with vines growing on the sides and front.  With most of the houses, only a driveway separated one from another.  In some instances, it was a wooden fence or a hedge.  His home in particular was separated only by a driveway on both sides.  Kids played in the front yards and rode their bike up and down the street.  It was a quiet neighborhood and he enjoyed living here. 

 

He heard his elderly neighbor’s front door open to his left.  He looked towards her as she slowly hobbled down her steps toward the mail box using her cane, wearing a heavy looking, light purple robe with a collar.

 

“’Morning, Mrs. Pheeler,” he called out and waved one hand.  She stopped, looked toward him, and smiled, lifting an eye brow.

 

“Good morning, Jack.  Looking good over there,” she said, scanning him up and down.  He looked down at his attire realizing he was wearing only a pair of grey sweat pants.  His broad, muscular shoulders and chest stood bare in the sunlight.  He chuckled to himself and looked back towards his neighbor as Carrie ran back inside the house.

 

“And you’re looking as beautiful as ever, Mrs. Pheeler.”  He responded with a grin.  She giggled, delighted in his reply, and returned to her trek to the mailbox. 

 

He followed Carrie back into the house, shutting the door behind him.  He walked through his living room, donned with a 42 inch T.V. adjacent a leather couch.  A glass coffee table separated the T.V. and couch.  A leather recliner sat at the end of the coffee table.  No pictures hung on the wall.  He had no family that he could remember.

 

He reached the kitchen and headed for the cabinet.  On the counter was a remote to the CD player on the other side of the room.  He scooped it up and pushed play.  Soft big band music began to fill the house and the melodic voice of Frank Sinatra sang to him.  He sang back in return.

 

_I’ve got you under my skin_

_I’ve got you deep in the heart of me._

_So deep in my heart you’re really a part of me._

_I’ve got you under my skin._

He reached into the cabinet beside the stove and pulled out a frying pan.  He spun it around in his fingers and laid it on a burner, flipping it on before heading to the fridge.

 

_I’ve tried so not to give it._

_I said to myself: this affair, never will go so well_

_But why should I try to resist when, baby, I know so well_

_I’ve got you under my skin._

He cracked a few eggs into his now hot pan.  As the eggs cooked, he walked to Carrie’s dish on the floor and poured her some food and water.  He popped some toast in the toaster oven and turned on his Keurig to make a cup of coffee before heading back to his eggs. 

 

_I’d sacrifice anything come what might_

_For the sake of havin’ you near_

_In spite of a warnin’ voice that comes in the night_

_And repeat, repeats in my ear:_

He flipped his eggs in the pan and turned to butter his toast.

 

_Don’t you know, you fool, you can never win?_

_Use your mentality, wake up to reality._

He pulled out a plate and slid his eggs onto it, followed by his toast.  Grabbing his coffee, black, he walked to the small, circle table in the middle of the kitchen and sat down to eat his breakfast.

 

_But each time that I do, just the thought of you_

_Makes me stop before I begin_

_Cause I’ve got you under my skin_

The band kicks in as Jack eats, letting the music flow through him.  He wasn’t sure why but this genre of music relaxed him and he loved it.  After a minute, he tossed Carrie the last corner of his toast and stood to put his now empty plate in the sink as Ol’ Blue Eyes continued his singing.

 

_I would sacrifice anything come what might_

_For the sake of havin’ you near_

_In spite of the warning voice that comes in the night_

_And repeats – how it yells in my ear:_

He washed his plate and cup so he wouldn’t have to do it later.

 

_Don’t you know, you fool, ain’t no chance to win_

_Why not use your mentality – get up, wake up to reality?_

_And each time I do just the thought of you_

_Makes me stop just before I begin_

_‘Cause I’ve got you under my skin_

_And I like you under my skin._

A new song began as he left the kitchen and headed down the hall.  The room to the left was the bathroom; to the right, his bedroom.  He retrieved an outfit from his dresser and headed to the bathroom for a shower.

 

Afterwards, he dried himself and dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a black tee-shirt.  He walked back in his room to his dresser and grabbed the necklace that lay on top.  It was a long silver chain with a silver dove pendant attached.  The dove was holding an olive branch.  He couldn’t remember where it came from but he wore it always.  It held a lot a meaning.  He just wasn’t sure what that meaning was.  All he knew was he felt a strong connection to this necklace.  Putting it around his neck, he walked back into the living room.  Carrie was sitting by the door, her leash in her month.  Jack smiled at her.  He walked into the kitchen long enough to turn the music off before heading back to his girl.  Opening the closet by the front door, he pulled out a jean jacket and threw it on.  Carried dropped the leash at his feet when he walked up to her.  He knelt and clipped it onto her collar, nuzzling her ears as he did.  Grabbing his keys, he led her out the door, locking it on his way out.

 

~*~

 

They had made it into town.  This was Carrie’s favorite part of the walk.  She loved seeing all the people as they walked down the sidewalk.  Kids loved to come up and play and pet her.  Jack would stop a lot on their walk in order for kids and ladies to pet his companion.  She definitely attracted the ladies.  Normal men would probably use this to their advantage.  But then again, Jack didn’t really consider himself very normal.  Before his thoughts could run away from him like they usually did, he was stopped again as a little girl ran up to him.

 

“Excuse me, Mr.  Can I pet your puppy?”   She was young and looked up at him with big eyes.  He gave her a smile and a nod and she happily took to scratching the pup’s ears.  He watched happily but somewhere inside, there was a pang of hurt.  Why, he didn’t know.  He didn’t have time to further investigate this feeling though as a woman came running up.

 

“Lizaeth!” She cried, grabbing the girl’s arm.  She looked to Jack apologetically.  “I’m so sorry, sir.  I don’t know what has gotten in to her!”  He dismissed it with a wave and a smile as the woman pulled her daughter away, scolding her for talking to strangers and running off from her side. 

 

“Jack.”  He heard from beside him.  He turned and came face to face with those blue eyes, the ones that mesmerized him every time he looked into them.

 

“Relena.”  He breathed, taking her in.  She was wearing a pain of dark blue flare jeans and a white halter top.  In her hand were the same huge glasses she was wearing the last time he saw her a few days ago.  It seemed she had just taken them off.  Her black boots gave her an extra inch, matching him in height.  She wore a white Rastafarian hat that hid those gorgeous blond locks he loved so much.  After a second he cleared his throat.  “What are you doing here?”  She smiled up at him.

 

“Just taking a trip into town.  You?”  She replied.  He didn’t answer her though, choosing instead to scan up and down the road before settling his gaze back on her.

  
“Where is your security detail?”

 

“Oh, I ditched them,” she stated nonchalantly, waving her hand with her glasses.  Then she winked at him.  “A girls gotta have some fun.” 

 

“You can’t do that, Relena!  What if something were to happen?” He barked out, catching himself as well as her, off guard.  She frowned at him, taking a step back.  He looked away, embarrassed by his outburst.  “I apologize.  It’s not my place.”  He said softly.  He felt her eyes on him but couldn’t bring himself to look back at her.  _What the hell was that?_

After a moment of silence, he heard her sigh.  Finally daring to look back at her, he found her gaze had been stolen elsewhere and a smile tinged her lips.  He followed that gaze and saw it led to Carrie.

 

“Is this Carrie?”  She said, looking back to him.  He smiled back at her and nodded.  “May I?”   She requested.  She stuck her hand out to pet the pooch but simply held it in mid-air, awaiting permission.  He held his own arm out as if beckoning her to do so.

 

“By all means,” he laughed.  She crouched down to Carrie’s level and held her hand out for her to sniff.  Carrie did so before pushing her head underneath Relena’s hand, asking for attention.  Relena giggled as she rubbed the dog’s ears, head and back.  Jack decided right then and there that this woman’s laugh was the most beautiful sound in the world.  He smiled down at her and watched as she gave the dog her full attention, talking to her and petting her like no one else was around.  Carrie reached out and licked Relena’s cheek.  She responded with another giggle.  After a few minutes, she stood and turned back to him, a big smile playing on her face.

 

“She’s so friendly!”

 

“I think she likes you.”

 

“Well I like her!” She giggled and linked her hands together in front of her.  He was trapped by her eyes and it felt as though it were getting more and more difficult to breath.  They stood in silence a moment, both trying to figure out what to say next.  It was Relena who spoke first.  “You’re not working today?”  She asked.

 

“No,” he replied, finally finding his voice.  “I’m off today.  And it’s customary I take Carrie out for a walk on my days off.”  He gestured to the dog who had now found interest in a sandwich a passerby child had snuck to her. 

 

“That’s lovely.”  He didn’t think she had stopped smiling since she saw him.  “I don’t get very many days off.  And when I do, I have to really work to get them.”  Her eyes grew sad for a moment.  She quickly covered it but not before he noticed.  “So when I do get off, I try to see my friends…or escape for a day.”  She motioned to the town.

 

“You work all the time.”  He stated more as a question that he already knew the answer to.  Her smile dropped a bit.

 

“Yeah.  It’s ok though.   It’s worth it for the greater cause.”  Her hands now latched behind her back and she stared up into the sky, slowly rocking on her heals.

 

“You are the reason there is peace between the Earth and colonies.”

 

“No,” She shook her head, still looking up.  “It wasn’t just me.  I had a lot of help.  I couldn’t have done it without him…”  She said softly, her thoughts clearly on another.  “Them.”  She quickly corrected herself.  He shifted slightly before responding.

 

“He pulls his strength from you, you know.” 

 

Her head snapped back and her eyes widened as she looked at him.  “What did you say?”  But at that moment, Carrie barked loudly and took off running, pulling her leash out of Jack’s hands.

 

“Hey!” he yelled after her.  He looked back at Relena apologetically before taking off after his dog.  “Carrie!”  He called after her.  “STOP!”  He chased her two blocks down to find her at a restaurant.  Tables lined the outside of the eatery, providing out door service.  He slowed to a stop.  Carrie was sitting at a table occupied by the same child who had given her the bit of sandwich.  Jack shook his head.  Suddenly, footsteps came from behind, accompanied by labored breathing.  He turned to see Relena had followed, attempting to help in his search.  He smiled at her, a smile which she returned.

 

“You found her,” she breathed.  Jack nodded before heading to the table.  The child was accompanied by an older gentleman, seemingly his grandfather, who was giving Carrie a piece of bread.

 

“I’m sorry about my dog,” Jack said to the pair as he clipped Carrie’s leash to her collar again. 

 

“It’s no problem, son.”  The old man replied.  “She’s beautiful.”  The boy nodded his agreement.

 

“Thank you very much, sir.”  Jack led Carrie back to where Relena still stood.  She watched him as if trying to study him.  “Sorry about that.”  He smiled at her.  She returned it, crossing her arms in front of her.

 

“It’s no problem at all.  I could have used the exercise.”  She joked.  He stared at her a moment, trying to gain some courage.  Finally, he gestured toward a table outside of the restaurant.

 

“Would you care to join me for lunch?”  He asked poetically.  Inside, his stomach was in knots and his chest felt as though he had an anvil resting on it.  Outside, he remained calm and collected.  Her smile grew and she dropped her arms.

 

“I would love to,” she nodded.  He took a big inward sigh and flashed her a big smile.  He held out his arm, which she took gratefully, and led her to a table.  He noticed a few people looked in their direction and he figured it was because he was sitting with the Vice Foreign Minister herself.  As much as she tried to blend in, she still stuck out like a sore thumb.  He called the waiter over and ordered drinks, sweet tea for both of them.  She nodded her approval.  Carrie sat next to Relena, lying down at her feet.

 

“Traitor,” he muttered to his pooch, causing his date to giggle and pet the girl by her side.  The waiter returned with their drinks promptly and took their orders.  Relena ordered a chicken sandwich with fries and Jack, the hamburger with fries.   He looked at her while she ordered, his eyebrows slightly raised.

 

“What?” she asked.

 

“Nothing.  Nothing.  I just didn’t figure you for a sandwich kind of girl.”

 

“Well, what did you expect?” she scoffed.  “A salad?”

 

“Well….yeah.” He answered honestly.  She laughed and took a sip of her drink.

 

“Yeah, I’m not that classy unless I have to be.  This is my day off.”  She tipped her drink at him, which he returned.

 

“It’s refreshing actually.  All girls seem to eat is salad these days.”

 

“Oh, really?  Been on a lot of salad dates?”  She played with her fork, twisting it in her fingers and not looking at him.  He chuckled, making her.

 

“No.  That’s just all I seem to see women eat.  It’s nice to see someone who doesn’t care.”

 

“Well, I wouldn’t say I don’t care.  I’m not afraid to say I eat an occasional salad around the high executives, even though I may want a steak.  But when I’m around people I’m comfortable with, I eat what I want.  And I’m very comfortable with you.”  She looked away, slightly embarrassed.

 

“I’m comfortable around you, too.”  He said back.  She looked back at him and they shared a smile as a blush crept onto her cheeks.  It was by far the most adorable thing he had ever seen.

 

The food came shortly after.  They spent the rest of the meal making small talk as they ate.  Most of the time, they sat in silence.  Strangely enough to him, it wasn’t an awkward silence.  He felt oddly content just being in her presence and from what he could tell, she felt the same way.  When they did talk, it was about small things; the weather, Carrie, his work.  The waiter returned periodically to refill their drinks.  He finally came one last time to give them the check and take away their empty plates when they finished.  Jack took the check, put money with it, and handed it back to the waiter, who walked away briskly.  He turned back to look at Relena, seeing her watching him.  Upon being caught, she didn’t look away but continued to stare at him.  Finally she spoke.

 

“So how did you get here?  To this town?  Were you born here?”  She picked up her drink and took a sip as she waited for his answer.  The question had thrown him off.  Although he should have expected the question of where he was from eventually, he still hated to answer it.  His smile dropped and he stared at the table cloth in front of him, looking for the right words.

 

“No.”  He started carefully.  “No, I’m not from here.  At least I don’t think I am.”  His eyes looked up from his resting spot.  She had leaned back in her chair with her drink, waiting for him to continue.  His eyes dropped again.  “See, I don’t really know where I’m from.”

 

“Oh,” She said sadly.  “Are you an orphan?”

 

“No.  Maybe.  I actually don’t know.”  He looked back up, gauging her response.  She looked confused at him but said nothing.  He sighed, deciding to just go ahead and explain.  Normally he would blow this question off so he didn’t have to talk about it.  He didn’t want anyone’s pity and he really never felt like sharing his life story, as short as it may be for him.  But with her it was different.  He felt like he could trust her.  Like she would understand and not judge or pity.  So it was time to take a chance.  
               

“About a year ago, I woke up in the hospital.  I have no memory of why I was there.”   He started slowly.

 

“Oh, no,” he heard her whisper.  He continued, looking back down at the table cloth and fiddling with his own fingers nervously.  He didn’t know why this was so difficult or why he felt so ashamed of the fact that he didn’t know anything about himself.  It wasn’t his fault.  Was it?

 

“I had been shot,” he heard her gasp.  “Right here, in my chest.”  He tapped his chest through his shirt where he knew his scar was.  “I also got hit in the head or something.  Cracked my skull open.  I don’t know what happened.   I can’t remember who I was.  I don’t……I don’t know anything.  I just know I woke up in a hospital room….alone.”  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her visibly swallow.  He looked up to see a look of despair on her face.

 

“Alone,” she muttered softly.  He immediately hated adding that part in.  He didn’t want to cause her any pain by his story.

 

“Yeah.  I might have been a bad person, though.  I mean, who knows how or why I got shot.  Nobody was there to tell me who I was.  Nobody was there to tell me what happened.  I figure maybe I was a thief.  Or drugs, maybe.  I don’t have a clue.”  He forced out a chuckle to try and lighten the mood.  “Maybe I deserved it, you know.  I… ” He started. 

 

“No!”  She yelled.  He stopped, surprised by her outburst.  His eyes widened and he looked at her worriedly.  She looked like she was about to cry, tears lining the bottom of her bright blue eyes, threatening to spill over.  She had set her drink down sometime during the time he was talking and was now clenching her fists on either side of the table.  People at surrounding tables had turned to look at her, making sure she was okay or seeing what was going on.  She paid them no mind as her head dipped down.

 

“Relena…”

 

“Someone should have been there…”  She whispered.

 

“No.  It’s ok.  If I was a bad person, then I wouldn’t want to know that.  Bad people don’t…”

 

“You weren’t a bad person.”  She muttered, looking back up at him.  His breath caught in his throat and he suddenly found it hard to swallow. 

 

“What?”  He asked, hesitantly.   She looked away for a moment, looking as though she was trying to think of what to say next.  Finally she looked back at him.

 

“You are such a good person, now, Jack.  I just can’t see you being a bad person before,” she said carefully.  He released the breath he was holding.  He couldn’t imagine why he had thought she might know who he was.  He had misunderstood that look in her eye; the one that told him she knew more than she was letting on.  He smiled at how sweet she was and let out a slight chuckle at how ridiculous he had been.  “What’s funny?”  She asked, questioningly.

 

“Nothing.”  He turned his smile to her.  “You’re amazing, you know.”  Her eyes widened a little in surprise as she smiled back and her cheeks and the top of her ears flushed.  He decided right then and there it would be his goal in life to make those ears turn red again.

 

“Jack…”  She protested, clearly embarrassed.  She stopped short as something caught her eye.  She stared, transfixed on his chest.  He looked down to see what she was looking at but saw nothing out of the ordinary and looked back at her confused.  Before he could ask, she answered.  “What is that around your neck?”  She pointed.  He looked back down as he pulled his necklace from under his shirt and held it for her to see.  She leaned across the table so he did too.  She took the dove in her hand and examined it.  “This is beautiful.”  She said softly.  She was only inches from his face and he watched her carefully.

 

“I had that when I woke up in the hospital.”  He replied.  “It was clutched in my hand.  I don’t know where it came from, but I wear it every day.  It gives me a strong sense of home.”

 

“Home...” She whispered and looked up at him.  He was watching her intently.  Her eyes met his and he got lost them; drowned in her sky blue orbs.  He could feel her breath on his and he couldn’t hold back any more.  The world surrounding them faded away; it was only the two of them.  The time to take a chance was now.  Slowly, he leaned forward.  So did she.  He was about to capture those luscious lips with his when…

 

“Princess!”  Came a man’s voice behind her.   She stopped. Her eyes went wide and her breath caught in her throat. 

 

“No!”  She whispered as she sat back in her chair quickly.  Her breathing was heavy and she closed her eyes as if to calm herself.  Jack sat back in his chair and looked past Relena at the man with a braid down to his ass walking in their direction, waving frantically.  He looked back to Relena, thoroughly confused as she gave him an apologetic, agonizing look.  Then she stood and turned toward the man.  She walked a couple steps to meet him and put her hand on his chest to stop him.  Beside him, Carrie growled.

 

“What are you doing here?”  She snapped through gritted teeth.  The smile didn’t leave his face.

 

“Oh, come on, babe.  Aren’t you happy to see me?”  He had a smug look on his face.  Jack immediately decided he didn’t like this guy.  “Don’t be rude, babe.  Introduce me!”  He turned his grin on Jack.

 

“Stop it,” she growled out.  But instead, the man held out his hand.

 

“And you are…?”  He pried.  Jack stood and glaring, grabbed the man’s hand, gripping it tightly.  The man grimaced.

 

“Jack. Who are…”  But he was cut off as Relena grabbed the man’s hand away from Jack and pulled him a few steps away, turning him to face her.

 

“What a grip,” he complained, shaking his hand free from the pain.

 

“Why are you here?”  She asked in a hushed voice so her date couldn’t hear.

 

“You’re forcing my hand, princess.”  He hushed back.  “Just turn around and go back home.”

 

“No!”  She yelled quietly at him.  “I can’t.  I can’t do this anymore. I…”

 

“I’m only giving you one more chance, Relena.  Turn around now and…”

 

“YOU go home!  We are…”  Suddenly, he lightly touched her cheek, bringing her closer to him.  He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.  Relena stiffened as his lips caressed hers.  After a minute, he pulled away, staying close enough where only she could hear him.

 

“Don’t make a scene, Princess.  There are cameras right around the corner.”  He whispered.  Her eyes widened again in shock, her mouth hanging open not knowing what to say.  He backed away and turned back to Jack, stamping his big smile back on his face.  “Sorry, buddy,” he said cheerfully, snaking an arm around Relena’s waist and shoving a hand in her pocket.  She looked down at his hand and back up to Jack.  He saw her visually swallow.  “But, we got a hot date tonight, right babe?”  He gave Relena a seductive wink.  “Nice to meet ya, bud.”  He tipped his head at Jack before turning around, taking Relena with him.  She gave Jack one more fleeting look before she turned and walked away with him.

 

Jack watched as the couple got into a limo and drove away.  He was pissed.  His fist clenched beside him.  He had no idea what just happened but he didn’t like it.  His heart was racing and his blood was boiling.  He couldn’t remember ever being this mad. 

 

Now that he thought about it, she never did say she was single.  He had never asked.  But then why had she taken him up on his offer for lunch?  Was she just trying to be nice and he had taken it the wrong way? 

 

A wet tongue on his clenched hand brought him out of his thoughts.   He looked down at Carrie who was looking back up at him with sad eyes.  He sighed and relaxed his hands with the rest of his body.

 

“Come on, Carrie.”  He reached down and picked up Carrie’s leash.  “Let’s go home.”

 

~*~^~*~

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Me: Gundam Wing isn’t mine, although you people should know that by now.
> 
> Lawyer: Yeah! *points finger*
> 
> Me: ^_^

~*~v~*~

 

Duo opened the door to the limo, allowing Relena to climb in first.  He followed, sitting across from her.  As soon as he settled in, Relena reached across the limo, closing the distance between them, and slapped him across the face.  Duo’s head turned with the force of her hit.  He stayed in that position, his head facing the window.

 

“How dare you,” she growled out.  He turned back to face her, his eyes sad.

 

“I’m sorry, Relena. I…”

 

“I can’t believe what you just did.”  Tears were springing to her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

 

“I did what I had to do.  I never…” He started apologetically as the limo pulled off. 

 

“You are not sorry!  You could have just left us alone.  There was no reason to….” The limo turned the corner to reveal a sidewalk empty of reporters.  Her jaw dropped.  “There were no reporters?”  She whispered in disbelief.

 

“I had to say that so you wouldn’t cause a scene.  It was the only way to…”

 

“What is wrong with you?!”  She screamed.  “You intentionally made him think we were together.”

 

“Yes, I did.  If he…”

 

“He will never talk to me again!”

 

“Relena…”

 

“You had no right.  No right at all.  I’m going to tell Hilde.”  She threatened.  She would never really tell Hilde.  As mad as she was, she knew Duo’s reasoning and she would not disrupt their relationship for that.  But Duo didn’t have to know that.

 

“Go ahead and tell Hilde,” he called her bluff and sounding very irritated.  “It was her idea anyway.  We thought….”

 

“Wait,” she said, holding her hand up to silence him.  “That was Hilde’s idea?”  She felt like she had just been punched in the stomach.  Her two best friends, conspiring against her.

 

“We thought that if…”

 

“I don’t want to hear it!”  She yelled.

 

“But Relena….”

 

“No!  I can’t do this anymore, Duo!  I’m hurting and I can’t watch him without being there!”

 

“Relena…”

 

“I don’t care what I said before!”

 

“Relena, stop…”

 

“I’m tired of all of this!  I’m so tired.  I can’t keep doing this.  I love him!”

 

“STOP IT!”  He yelled, finally raising his voice.  She stopped speaking immediately.  His yell had startled her.  “Just stop it, Relena.  I know you’re hurting.  We all are.  If he thinks you are with someone, he will be less likely to try and start something with you.  It makes it easier on you if he’s not putting any moves on you.”

 

“But…”

 

“No buts, Relena!  I’m tired of this too!  I’m tired of having to follow you around to make sure you keep your distance.  I’m tired of making sure he is not trying to get to you.  I am tired of trying!   We all agreed to this, Relena.  All of us!  You were the one who made the final decision and all of us accepted it.  Now it’s time for YOU to accept it.”

 

The limo fell silent.  Tears slowly rolled down Relena’s cheeks and she stared at her lap.  She was finding it hard to swallow. 

 

“I’m moving him,” he said softly.  Her eyes snapped back to his.  He was staring out the window.

 

“What?”

 

“Tomorrow.”  He added.  She straightened up.

 

“You can’t…”

 

“I can and I will!” He snapped, looking back at her.  She shook her head slightly in disbelief and he turned back to the window.  “It’s the only thing I know to do.”  He added, his voice barely above a whisper. 

 

Silence again blanketed the limo.  The only sound came from the tires running along the pavement beneath them. 

 

“You’ve changed.”  She whispered.  Duo slowly looked from the window to the woman sitting across from him.  Her head was lowered as she stared into her lap, her hands clasped together.  “You used to be so nice; so funny; so…happy.”  She shook her head, still refusing to look at him.  He swallowed back the lump in his throat.  “You’ve changed.”

 

He tore his eyes away from her and threw them back to the window.  The rest of the ride was spent with neither person talking or looking at each other.  The ride seemed agonizingly long and the tension threatened to suffocate the passengers of the vehicle.   

 

Finally the limo began to slow and turned into the driveway of the Peacecraft manor.  The car came to a stop outside the front door.  Usually, Duo would open the door first, climb out, and hold his hand for her to use.  This time, it didn’t happen.  The limo had barely halted when Relena grabbed the door handle and threw herself out into the bright sun.  Quickly she ran up the stairs and into the house, slamming the door shut behind her.

 

Duo heaved a big sigh and climb out of the car.  The driver door opened as well, allowing Pagan to step out.  Duo leaned against the car door with his arms crossed and watched Relena hurry into the house.  Beside him, Pagan joined him next to the car.

 

“I’m doing the right thing, right?”  The braided man asked staring at the house door as it slammed shut.

 

“I believe that you truly believe this is right.”  The old butler replied.  Duo gave him a half smile and a sideways look.

 

“That didn’t sound very convincing.”  He joked.  Pagan smiled beside him.

 

“Everyone made a choice, Master Duo.  You have to follow it.”  Duo nodded at the old man’s response.

 

“Thank you, Mr. Pagan.” 

 

“Please, sir.  Just call me Pagan.”

 

“I will as soon as you start calling me Duo.  I’m no one’s master.”  Duo said with a wink.  He pushed himself off of the car and headed up the front stairs into the house.  Opening the door, he was greeted with an odd sight.   

 

The living room held a white plush couch and love seat set, sitting in an L-shape.  A glass coffee table sat in the middle while a 52” flat screen rested on a glass entertainment center across from the couch.  Blue throw pillows decorated the couches.  To the right, a door held Relena’s home office.  The room had dark red paint on the walls lined with books and pictures of the country side.  A black leather couch faced a fireplace.  Relena’s desk was against the back wall, holding her laptop, pens, and papers.  The room felt warm and cozy.

 

Across from where Duo now stood in the doorway was the entrance to the grand kitchen.   The counters were black topped with white marble while the floor was plain white tile.  A glass, round table perched itself in the middle of the kitchen.  Glass double doors opened into the garden, Relena’s favorite place.  To Duo’s left was a grand staircase leading to the abundance of bedrooms, including Relena’s room and the room designated to Quatra.  The rest were guest rooms. 

 

Hilde was standing in the living room, staring off toward the kitchen where the glass doors to the garden lay wide open.  On the staircase stood Quatre with a glass of water in his hand.  He was also halted about three steps up, staring at the kitchen.  They both turned to look at Duo as he closed the front door behind him.

 

“What’s goin’ on?”  Duo asked.  Hilde walked up to him.

 

“What happened?” 

 

Duo sighed at his wife.  “She was on a date with him.  I had to do it.”  He responded softly.

 

“I’m going to go talk to her,” Quatre said, walking down the last few steps.  He set the glass of water down on the kitchen table before heading out into the garden.

 

Duo looked back to Hilde and she met his gaze.  His eyes dropped and he snaked his arm around her shoulders.  She wrapped hers around his waist as he led her to the couch.

 

“She was on a date, huh?”  Hilde asked as they sat down together.  Duo sighed.

 

“Yeah.  When I finally caught up to her, they were having lunch together and were about to smooch.” 

 

“No!”  She gasped unbelievingly as her hand flew to her mouth.

 

“Yeah.  It was a sight I didn’t want to break up.  I had to though.”  He said sadly.  Hilde put her hand on his chest comfortingly.

 

“You did the right thing, babe.” 

 

“Then how come it doesn’t feel like it,” he breathed, running his hand through his hair.  Hilde laid her head against his chest and her arm around his stomach.  He rubbed her arm that his hand was draped over.

 

“How did she take the you-being-her-boyfriend thing?”  She asked.  Duo smiled a bit though she couldn’t see it.

 

“Oh, she was pissed!  Smacked me hard after I got her in the car.  By the way, she knows it was your idea.”  He admitted, waiting for another smack.  Hilde sat straight up and turned to look at him, her eyes wide in shock and her mouth hanging open.

 

“Duo Maxwell!”  She hollered and smacked him in the shoulder.

 

“I’m sorry, babe!  It just kind of slipped out.  She was starting to irk me and I just kinda spit it out.  Really, Hilde-babe.  Forgive me?”  He pleaded with her.  Hilde sighed and shook her head before snuggling back in with him.

 

“Well that explains her entrance,” Hilde said.  Duo shifted slightly to look at her, waiting for her to continue.  “She burst in here, ignoring both me and Quatre, and ran straight into the garden.  I knew something had happened.”

 

“Yeah, she’s gunna be mad at us for a while, I think.  I told her I was moving him tomorrow.”

 

“Tomorrow?”

 

“Yeah.  I can’t really move him tomorrow.  I don’t have those kinds of resources.   A week, maybe.  But not tomorrow.  But Relena doesn’t know that.”  Hilde said nothing as she listened to her husband talk.  She had to agree with him, as much as she hated it.  She loved Relena.  She just wanted her best for her. 

 

Above her, Duo sighed.  “I gotta go call Lady Une.”  He said as he got back up and headed toward Relena’s office.  Hilde slumped back to the couch, laying down to staring at the ceiling. 

 

~*~

 

Quatre walked into the garden and immediately headed toward the right.  He knew exactly where Relena would go.  In the middle of the garden was a beautiful fountain and although Relena loved that fountain, it was not her favorite thing in the garden.  Off down a small path to the right between two thorn less rose bushes (the only thorn less rose bushes in the garden) was a small, hidden cove.  A tiny pond with koi swimming sat in the middle of the cove.  Lotus flowers spawned from the koi pond. 

 

Contrary to popular belief, Relena’s favorite flower was the Lotus flower.  Although the rose was indeed beautiful, the Lotus represented so much more and touched her heart.    The beautiful white and pink flowers essentially represented the clarity of heart as well as the mind. It also represented strength, good luck, long life as well as honour and respect.A lotus flower was a symbol of purity which rises unsullied through muddy water.In a relationship, it was normally used to mean being totally in love with someone and being forgetful of all that has happened in the past between them.  For all of these reasons, the Lotus stood out among all others.

 

Facing the Koi pond and its many flowers was a stone bench.  And upon that bench sat Relena Peacecraft.  Her head was bowed and her hands gripped the bench as tears dripped onto her lap.  She didn’t look up when she heard him approach.  She just turned her head away from him, trying to hide her tears.  The 04 pilot sat beside her, not saying a word.  After a moment, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.  Relena buried her head against his chest and her arms around his waist and let it all out.  She cried and cried and cried, bunching his shirt in her hands as she soaked his shirt.  Quatre didn’t mind.  He ran his fingers through her hair and rubbed her back in a soothing motion.  His chin rested on the top of her head as her allowed her to let out all of her frustrations on his shirt.

 

After a few moments, Relena finally started to calm down.  She pulled away from him and sniffed before looking up at him.

 

“I’m sorry, Quatre.”  She sighed, her voice sounding as though she had a cold.  He shook his head in response.

 

“You have nothing to be sorry about, Relena.  I’m glad you were able to let it out.  You want to tell me what happened?”  He asked.  Relena sighed again, shaking her head at herself.

 

“I saw him again.  He has a dog, you know.”  She said with a smile.  Quatre looked at her surprised.

 

“A dog?”  Relena giggled at his shocked expression.

 

“Yeah,” she said with another smile and a sniff.  “Her name is Carrie.  She’s a mutt.  Definitely has some Chow in her.  And some Golden Retriever.  She’s beautiful.”

 

“Huh.  Never would have thought that.”  Quatre said looking out over the pond.  The fish swam in circles, fighting with each other under the flowers.

 

“Yeah, me either.  He was walking her when I saw him.  We started talking and he invited me to lunch.”  She said timidly.

 

“And you accepted.”  Quatre added.  She nodded in response.  “Okay.  So…”

 

“So…we talked the whole time.  Quatre, he’s wearing the necklace.”  She said.  Quatre looked at her.  “And you’ll not believe what he said to me!”  She turned slightly to face him.

 

“What?”

 

“Well, we were talking about peace and he said ‘he pulls his strength from you, you know.’  Can you believe it?!”

 

Quatre’s eyebrows shot up into his bangs and his eyes went wide as he felt his breath hitch.

 

“Really?” he asked.  She nodded her head fiercely.

 

“Yeah!  He’s still in there, Quatre.”  She faced back to the pond and lowered her voice.  “I know what you’re going to say.  And you’re right.  You’re all right.  I’m selfish and petty and I need to leave him alone.  And I try.  I really do.  It doesn’t look like it, I know.  It’s just so hard, Quatre.”

 

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Quatre responded.  He would never call her those things.

 

“Duo kissed me.”  She admitted.  Quatre’s head snapped to hers.

 

“What?”  He demanded.  Relena nodded but didn’t look at him.

 

“He came in the middle of our lunch.  I pulled him to the side, trying to get him to go away.  Instead Duo kissed me!  In front of him!  He said he did it to help.  To show that I already had a boyfriend so Jack wouldn’t pursue me.”

 

Quatre shook his head in disbelief.

 

“How did he take it?”  He asked.  Relena let out a small chuckle that held no humor.

 

“He gave him the glare.”  A small smile played on her lips.  Quatre smiled a bit as well.

 

“Ah, _the_ glare.”

 

“Yeah.  He’s still got it.”  They both chuckled softly.  When silence fell again, Relena spoke.  “Duo is moving him tomorrow.”  Her voice was soft with hurt.  Quatre said nothing.  They had talked about the possibility of having to move him but he didn’t know Duo had already said something.  They were supposed to sit her down, tell her easy that they thought it would be best for everyone.  He would have to talk to Duo about this later.  For now, his attention needed to remain on his best friend sitting next to him, tears silently running down her cheeks again.  Quatre wrapped his arms around her shoulders, allowing her cry on his shoulder again.  “I know it’s for the best but…”  She couldn’t finish her sentence.

 

Quatre thought hard.

 

“So….he’s moving him tomorrow?”  He asked slowly.  Relena nodded against his shoulder.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So, the last time you guys would have seen each other was at lunch.”  He stated.  She didn’t answer right away, confused at where this conversation was going.

 

“Yeah…”  She replied, more as a question.  Quatre paused, thinking hard on what he was about to say.  Finally he sighed and resigned himself to this decision.

 

“It would be shame to have it ended that way.” 

 

Relena slowly pulled her head off his shoulder to look up at him.  Her eyes were wide in disbelief.  Quatre didn’t look at her, his gaze point at the Koi.

 

“What are you suggesting?”  She asked, her voice a bit broken.  He shook his head, still not looking at her.

 

“I’m not suggesting anything.”  He said pointedly, although a small smirk played on his lips.  She broke into a huge smile and threw her arms around her blonde pilot friend.

 

“You’re amazing!”  She squealed, planting a kiss on his cheek.  She jumped up and ran back to the house. 

 

He watched her leave, smiling as she skipped out of their hideout.  His shook his head again at himself.  He was going to pay for this one.

 

~*~^~*~


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lawyer: She doesn’t own Gundam Wing! So BACK OFF!!
> 
> Me: O.O Calm down, man. Calm down. They get it. 
> 
> Lawyer: They better! *glares*
> 
> Me: *backs away slowly* On with the story…..quick….before he flips!

 

~*~v~*~

 

Quatre sat on the couch, a glass of wine half empty on the coffee table in front of him and a book in his hand.  The house was quiet save for the rain falling outside and he was using this time to get some well-deserved relaxation.  The 04 pilot spent all of his time these days buried in his work.  But he had taken care of all of that earlier in the day and though his paperwork could probably use one more look over, he had finally resigned himself to sitting around with a good book.  The last of the paperwork could wait until tomorrow.

 

He had reached the end of the chapter and was about to turn the page when the crunching of gravel and a car engine could be heard pulling up outside.  Headlights flashed in through the windows and Quatre quickly put the book down and stood, an uneasy feeling taking him over.  No one was supposed to be here tonight.  The house was to be empty all night except for him and Pagan.  Relena had given the rest of the staff the night off.

 

Quatre glanced around the room, knowing good and well Heero had previously left guns stashed around the house in case of an emergency.  Although Relena had no knowledge of the firearms’ existence in her home, all of the pilots were aware on the off chance they needed to be used.  The blond man edged his way toward the flat screen as the car turned off and the door opened and shut.  He knew there was one stationed behind the giant TV. 

 

From the left he saw Pagan exit Relena’s office where he had been cleaning to see who had arrived.  He gave Pagan a look and curt nod as the intruder made his way up the front steps, his footsteps loud against the pavement.  Quatre prepared to grab the gun as the doorknob began to fiddle with a key or lock pick in the lock.  Quatre hated violence but when it was necessary, he had no problems acting accordingly. 

 

The doorknob turned and the door swung open revealing a tall braided man with a big grin on his American face.  Quatre released the breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding and relief warmed his senses.  But as the braided man waltzed into the room with his hands behind his head, dread quickly replaced his sense of relief.

 

“What’s goin’ on, guys?  You’re all so tense!”  Duo laughed at himself.  He knew he had just scared his Arabic friend by showing up.

 

“Duo, what are you doing here?  I thought you were having a date night with Hilde tonight?”  Quatre asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.  This was no good.  No good at all.

 

“We had dinner.  It was nice.  And home will be a lot nicer, if ya get my drift.”  He gave an impish grin and wink, making his blond friend blush.  “She went on home to get ready.” Duo continued.  “I wanted to swing by here first and make up with Relena.  I hate it when we fight, ya know?  You’re not supposed to go to bed angry!”  He laughed at his own joke while Quatre offered a sheepish smile.  Duo looked around, finally noticing how empty the house was.  “Well, where is the princess?  In her office?”  He asked as he turned on his heels and headed in the direction of her office door.

 

“She’s not in there.”  Quatre called out.  Duo stopped short and turned to face his fellow former pilot.

 

“Well why didn’t you say so, buddy?  Acting all suspicious and whatnot.” He smiled as he headed up the stairs.

 

“She’s not up there either,” the blond said.  Duo stopped halfway up the forth step.  He slowly turned around, a questioning look gracing his futures.

 

“Where is she then?”  He asked slowly with a soft smile.  Quatre refused to look at him.  Instead he kept his focus straight forward.  Duo walked back down the steps, the smile being replaced with disbelief.  “Quatre!”  Quatre started with the yell and looked to him, a guilty look on his face.  “Where.  Is.  She?”  Duo demanded.  Quatre opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, and closed it back, turning his gaze from Duo.  That was all the answer the braided man needed.  “You have got to be fucking kidding me!”  He yelled in frustration and quickly descended the stairs, heading for the door.  Pagan moved in front of the door, blocking Duo’s exit.  “Get out of the way, Pagan,” Duo growled.  He really preferred to not take his frustrations out on the old man.  But Pagan refused to move.

 

“Where are you going?” Quatre asked.

 

“To get her back!”  Duo yelled.

 

“This will be her last time seeing him,” Pagan tried to reason.  Duo looked at him, an unbelieving look on his face.

 

“That’s what she always says!”  He argued, taking a few steps back into the room.  It was obvious they were going to put up a fight.  “Every time she sees him its always “Just this last time!”  “Just one more time.”

 

“She’s hurting, Duo.”  Quatre said

 

“We are all hurting, Quatre!”  Duo retaliated.  “Look at us.  This has affected every single one of us.  Where is Wufie?  Does anyone know?  He went on security detail for Relena one time; the first time she went and saw him.  He took off the next day.  You’re the only one who hears from Trowa anymore.  DO you even hear from Trowa anymore?!  Because the guy didn’t talk much as it was.  Now he’s damn near silent!  You have buried yourself in your work!”  He walked over to the coffee table and picked up the book Quatre was previously reading.  He took one look at it and threw it back on the table. “You have been reading that same book for 5 months and I don’t think you are any further in it than the last time I saw you with it.”  He paused for a moment and looked down before continuing in a softer tone.  “Apparently I’ve turned into an asshole.  I’m mean.” 

 

“Duo, that’s not true.”  Quatre tried.

 

“No, it is true, Quat!”  Duo said, his voice getting louder.  “It’s true for all of us.  This has changed all of us for the worst.  We are ALL hurting.”  Silence coated the room as everyone took in his words.

 

“You’re moving him, right?”  Quatre asked.  Duo didn’t answer.  “Let her have this one night.”

 

Duo looked to Quatre, then to Pagan, then back to Quatre.  He threw his hands up in an exasperated manor and let out a frustrated growl before turning to the door.

 

“Where are you going?”  Quatre asked again.

 

“Home!”  Duo roared as he pushed past Pagan and out the door, slamming it behind him.  Quatre and Pagan listened as a car door opened and slammed shut.  The car turned on and quickly sped out of the driveway.  Pagan and Quatre exchanged pained looks.

 

“I feel sorry for Mrs. Hilde.”  Pagan said.  Quatre just nodded in agreement.

 

~*~

 

Rain landed on the side of the taxi, drops trailing down the window to meet other drops.  Together they formed designs as they collided with others on their hike down the window.  The blond currently occupying the back seat of the taxi watched the drops battle.  She vaguely listened to the driver talking.  Apparently his daughter was having her 16th birthday soon.  And there was something about a girl at her school having a party the same day.  She spoke when asked questions but otherwise kept to her own thoughts.

 

She was nervous.  Very nervous.  She wasn’t entirely sure what she was going to say or do when she saw him.  Honestly, she hadn’t thought that far ahead.  All she knew was this was their last and only night together they would have and she wanted to make the best of it. 

 

The driver pulled up outside of a cottage.  She smiled and looked around at the residents.  She really loved this neighborhood.  That’s why she picked it.  The cottages were adorable and the people were so nice and friendly.

 

Relena pulled up the hood on the hoodie she borrowed from Quatre before she left.  Reaching forward, she paid the taxi driver through his window between the seats and thanked him for the ride.  After taking a deep, she hopped out of the taxi and ran to the door.  Inside she could hear music playing but she couldn’t tell what it was.  She was getting soaked out in the rain, her hair matting to her face through the hood. 

 

Taking another timid deep breath, she knocked hard on the door.  From inside, Carrie started barking and ran to the door, warning the intruders of her presence.  Relena smiled at hearing the pup.  Ever the protector.  Like someone else she knew.

 

The music turned off and Relena could hear footstep approaching.  The rain was cold on her but her racing heart was keeping her warm.  The door unlocked and opened.  Carrie’s nose poked out before the door was open all the way.  After sniffing Relena, she began satisfied with their guest and jumped on Relena, her tail wagging.  Relena giggled and pet the puppy.

 

“Carrie!  Inside!  It’s raining!”  A male voice commanded.  Carrie turned immediately and ran back in the house.  Relena looked up to see Jack standing in the doorway staring at her.  She could feel her face heating up as she gazed at him.  He wore nothing but a pair of sweat pants, his chest bare.  “Relena?”

 

“Hi, Jack,” she greeted.  Jack blinked a few times.  Then realizing she was standing in the rain, he grabbed her arm and pulled her inside.  He looked back outside to see if anyone else was with her.  Upon seeing nothing, he closed the door back and locked it.  Then he turned to her.

 

“Relena…what are you doing here?”  He asked.  She paused a moment, searching for the right words.

 

“I needed to see you; to talk to you.  About lunch….that wasn’t….he’s not…..we aren’t together.”  _Well this isn’t going well at all,_ she thought.  _Come on, Relena.  Don’t screw this up._ “He is just my friend.”

Jack stared at her, not really knowing what to say.  An unconscious shiver ran down Relena’s back.  She was soaked from the rain.  Jack frowned.

 

“You’re freezing.  Come on.   You can take a shower and warm up before you get sick.  I’ll throw your clothes in the dryer to dry.”  He led her down the hall to the door on the left and opened it for her.  She stepped in and looked around the quaint bathroom holding a tub shower, a counter sink, and a toilet.  Jack cleared his throat nervously, drawing her attention back to him.  “If you want to just set your clothes on the sink, I’ll get them dry for you.”   He said.  She smiled and nodded her thanks. 

 

Jack turned and walked back out of the bathroom, leaving Relena to undress from her soak ridden clothes and hop in the hot water.  He walked across the hall to his bedroom and headed to his dressed.  He opened the top drawer and pulled out a white guinea tee and a pair of gray pajama pants.  After taking a few steps away from the dresser, he stopped short and looked down at himself.  He was still shirtless.  Rolling his eyes at himself, he went back to the dresser, grabbing a plain white t-shirt and pulling it over his head.  As he heard the shower turn on from the bathroom across the hall, he took a seat on the edge of his bed and sighed as he ran a hand through his unruly, chocolate hair.

 

What was she doing here?  It was late at night and he hadn’t been expecting anyone, much less _her_.  She wanted to talk about what happened earlier.  If that guy wasn’t her boyfriend, then who was he?  Jack’s blood boiled at the thought of some man giving her unwanted attention.  Although, she had said that man was her friend.  What kind of person would treat their friend like that?  He thought about the braided man kissing her and shoving his hand in her pocket.  _Yeah, cause friends do that all the time,_ he thought sarcastically.

 

The brown haired man pulled himself off of the bed and exited to the hall.  He stood outside of the bathroom preparing himself.  Slowly he opened the door just a little and saw her wet clothes lying on the counter.  He stepped in just enough to grab them and replace them with his dry ones.  As he tried to sneak out silently, his gaze cause her silhouette against the curtain and he felt himself blush.  He quickly walked out, shutting the door behind him and silently berating himself for sneaking a peek.  True, he hadn’t really seen anything.  But he saw enough just in her silhouette to make his heart race.

 

The washer and drying were located at the end of the hall.  As he there in the clothes she had been wearing when he first saw her in town, one item had been added since then.  He stared for a moment at the man’s hoodie for a moment, curious as to who it belonged to.  If Relena and the braided man weren’t a couple, why was she wearing his hoodie?  Again he felt his anger growing and forced himself to keep it in check.

 

He took a deep sigh and threw the rest of her clothes in, turning the dryer on before exiting back down the hall and into the living room.    He headed into his kitchen and went straight to the fridge, grabbing a beer out.  As the man plopped down in a seat at the kitchen table, he picked up his remote for the CD player and pushed play.  He turned it down a bit and pulled the top off of his beer.  Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” began playing and Jack couldn’t help but think of how appropriate this song was right now.

_Strangers in the night exchanging glances_

_Wond'ring in the night what were the chances_

_We'd be sharing love before the night was through_

 

He took a long swig of his beer and let his thoughts drift to the events of the day.  After Relena and that man had left in her limo, Jack couldn’t help but notice the barrage of people giving him sympathetic looks.  It was nerve racking and he felt the need to get out of there before someone started talking to him; or worse, consoling him.  So he took off; started running down the sidewalk with Carrie close on his tail.  He ran all the way home, ignoring random calls of his name from his friends and associates.  He had no desire to speak with anyone at that moment.

 

When he returned home, Mrs. Pheeler was outside in her front lawn.

**“Hello, Jack.  Care to help out an old lady?”  She asked him.  He smiled and agreed and after letting Carrie back in the house, he walked next door to hers.  She had needed his help fixing the stopped up sink.  He didn’t mind helping her.  If gave him to opportunity to think of something other than the events that had just transpired.  At least that was what he thought.**

**“So, when are you going to bring a lady home for me to meet?”  She asked as she watched him underneath her sink.  Jack smiled despite the fact that it drew his thoughts right back to the woman he had just watched leave with another man.  He had told his elderly neighbor about waking up in the hospital and not knowing anything and having to start all over.  She had since taken on a motherly role and tried to help him regain a sense of himself.**

**“I don’t know, Mrs. Pheeler.  I have to find her first.”**

**“Well you better get a move on,” she joked.  “You’re not getting any younger.  You know, if you’d have been born in my time, the girls would have flocked to you.”**

**“Is that so?”  He laughed from under the sink.**

**“It is so!” She exclaimed.  Jack pulled himself from under the sink and smacked his hands together as if to rid them of any dust.  He turned and ran the water and watched as it was sucked down the now un-clogged drain.  Mrs. Pheeler stood and clapped her hands!  “That’s wonderful, Jack!  Thank you so much.  I don’t know what this old lady would do without you.”  She reached her frail arms around him and gave him a big hug.**

**“Anytime, Mrs. Pheeler.”  He hugged her back.  “You know,” he said, pulling away to look at her.  “If I would have been born in your time, the other ladies would have their hearts broken when they realized I was all yours.”  He gave her a wink and a kiss on the cheek.  She giggled like a school girl and smacked his arm lightly.**

**“Oh, Jack,” she blushed.  He laughed with her.**

**“Did you need anything else, Mrs. Pheeler?”  He asked.  She shook her head as she smiled up at him.**

**“No, no, dear.  That’s all.”  She patted his back while walking him to the door.  “And Jack, seriously, come have dinner with me sometime.  I know you’re all alone over there.”**

**“I will, Mrs. Pheeler, Thank you.**

Jack took another long sip of his beer.

_Something in your eyes was so inviting_

_Something in you smile was so exciting_

_Something in my heart told me I must have you_

He was all alone.  He had woken up in that hospital room utterly confused about who he was, where he was from, and what he was doing in the hospital.  The blond doctor had looked at him sympathetically and told him he had been shot.  When he asked if there was anyone there for him, she looked down at the floor and answered with a steady “No”.  Dr. Po quickly changed the subject by explaining what would be taking place and when he would be able to leave.  He woke up with a necklace.  Someone had left him more money than he could ever hope for.  But no one seemed to know who he was or where these things had come from. 

 

_Strangers in the night_

_Two lonely people, we were strangers in the night_

_Up to the moment when we said our first hello little did we know_

_Love was just a glance away, a warm embracing dance away_

 

He went in search of somewhere to live.  Alone.  He had been directed to this area of town and found a little cottage that suited him perfectly.  Alone.  He was always alone.  And he couldn’t understand why.  Why had he been shot?  Why had he woken up alone?  Why, after all this time, had no one come forward to claim him?  There had to be a reason why he was always alone.

_Ever since that night we've been together_

_Lovers at first sight, in love forever_

_It turned out so right for strangers in the night_

 

He had tried to make friends with his coworkers but he always felt out of place.  He went out drinking a few times and watched football games a various people’s homes.  He had been on a few dates with different ladies but it never went further than one.  He just didn’t feel right about any of it.  It didn’t feel like _him._   He had no idea what he did before the accident but it definitely wasn’t this.  He was different and he didn’t know why.

 

Jack took another swig from the ice cold bottle in his hand.

 

_[instrumental-first three lines of chorus]_

 

He recalled the bar fight he was in last month.  A man had put his hands on his woman and Jack saw this and defended her.  The broad man swung a punch at Jack who moved sideways to miss it.  Without missing a beat, Jack grabbed the man’s arm in mid swing, popping in backwards and breaking it.  A punch to the face and a flip over his shoulder and the man was out old.  Jack had no idea how he knew how to do any of that.  But he did.  He was rewarded with a cheer from the crowd and a French kiss from the woman he saved.  The man didn’t press charges and Jack had a suspicion that it was because the man was scared of him.  And Jack didn’t blame him.  He would be scared of a man who pulled that off, too!  It was instinct and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it again if he tried.  What was he?

                                                                                  

_Love was just a glance away, a warm embracing dance away_

He always felt alone and to himself.  Until he met _her_.  Relena Darlian.  The second she walked into the coffee shop, everything changed in him.  There was just something about her.  He felt like he’d known her his entire life.  He knew her real name was Peacecraft and for some reason that name sounded more right than Darlian.  She was the only one able to get him to spill his life story, as short as it was, with one little question.  His heart raced when he saw her, thought of her, dreamed of her.  And boy did he dream of her.  He couldn’t understand what it was about her that turned his world upside down.

 

He looked up at the sound from the door to see Relena, hair still damp and curled down her shoulders, dressed in his clothes.  She was leaning against the door frame, her hands clasped behind her back in a childlike manner, her left foot on her toe.  A small smile played on her lips and a blush tainted her cheeks.

 

His breath caught in his throat.

 

_Ever since that night we've been together_

_Lovers at first sight, in love forever_

_It turned out so right for strangers in the night_

_[Dooby-doooby-doo and other scat to end]_

~*~^~*~


	6. Chapter 6

Me:  I’m having fun writing this story!

 

Lawyer:  We are having fun reading it!

 

Me:  Aww,  thanks!  So, I’m currently NOT the owners of Gundam Wing.

 

Lawyer:  …..you say that like its subject to change….

 

Me:  *bows head sadly*  …..no….

 

Lawyer:  Yeah, I thought so.

 

Me:  By the way, this chapter is a bit limey.  ;)  It was a lemon in my head but I changed it up a little to comply with FF.

 

~*~v~*~

 

Relena pushed herself off of the doorframe.  Holding her arms up, she spun slowly in a circle while taking a step in the kitchen.

 

“How do I look?”  She joked with a smile.  He looked at her completely serious.

 

“Incomplete,” he said.  The smile disappeared from her face and a surprised look took over.  “But I don’t know what’s missing.”  He added, seeming a bit confused with his own response.  Her eyes unconsciously dropped to the necklace around his neck before coming back up.  She watched him scan her up and down before a smile crept on his face.  “You’re beautiful.”  She smile brightly and blushed again.

 

“Thank you,” she muttered.  He looked over her once more before finally remembering his manners.  Quickly he hopped up from his seat.

 

“I’m sorry, do you want something to drink?”  He asked.

 

“Sure,” she answered.  Jack walked over to the cabinet and pulled down a wine glass.  Next he headed to the fridge where he pulled out a bottle of wine.   Relena looked around the kitchen, inspecting it as Jack poured her a glass.  He shoved the bottle back in the fridge, exchanging it for another beer, and walked back to Relena, handing her the glass.  She muttered another ‘thank you’ before taking a sip.  Her eyes got wide and she shot him a surprised look.  “This is Chateau Morrisette!  Red Mountain Laural!”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“This is my favorite wine.  How did you know?”  She exclaimed.  Jack shrugged with one shoulder.

 

“It’s just the kind I’ve always gotten.”  He replied.  Relena shook her head in wonder and took another sip.  The room fell silent and Relena could feel his eyes on her.  Finally he spoke.

 

“So….Relena….what are you doing here?”  He asked, taking a swig of his beer.  She lowered her drink a bit, staring into the wine that spun inside the glass. 

 

“I felt bad about how we left things earlier.  I didn’t mean for that to happen.”  She couldn’t look up at him.

 

“So, that guy…”  He prodded.

 

“He’s just a friend.  He’s my best friend, actually.” 

 

“Do all of your friends treat you like that?”

 

“No!”  Her eyes shot back to his and she was stuck.  There was no looking away now.  “No.  He just…he just figured if he acted like that, we…well, we wouldn’t get together or go out or anything.”  She stuttered.  _Get it together, Relena!  You’re screwing this up!_   She thought to herself.  Jack took a step toward her.  Relena, in turn, grabbed the back of the chair she was standing closest to in order to keep herself steady.  “He just doesn’t want me to get hurt.”

 

“How could he think I could ever hurt you?”  He asked softly.  He set his beer down on the table and took another step toward her.  He was getting closer and she was starting to tremble.

 

“It’s not you.  It’s me.”  She said softly, looking up at him.  He was so close she could feel his breath on her.  Her heart was beating so hard she was sure he could hear it and her mouth was suddenly very dry.  His eyes bore into hers fiercely.  “I could hurt you, too.  I could…” but she was cut off as his lips gently took hers.

 

She could taste the beer on his lips.  The tangy flavor and the feel of him coursed through her.  She responded immediately, moving her own lips in time with his.

 

Jacks heart was soaring as he pressed his mouth to hers timidly.  She responded in fervor.  And that’s when it hit him.

 

A flash went through his head, followed by an image.  He was lying on the beach on his stomach, looking up.  His sights were set on the woman he was now lip locked with.  Only she wasn’t the woman she was now.  She was younger, her hair tied back with braids.  She stood against an orange sky with a look of horror and worry clouding her features.  

 

Jack’s eyes widened and he pulled away from her abruptly, taking a few steps back and almost falling backwards over his chair.  The image disappeared as soon as they broke contact.  She looked taken aback and hurt at his sudden retreat.

 

“Jack?  What’s wrong?”  She asked worriedly.   He said nothing; just stared at her without seeing her.  His eyes blinked rapidly in a vain attempt to retrieve the image he had just seen.  But it was gone as quickly as it had come.  “Jack?”  She said a bit more forcefully.  He snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention back to the woman at hand.  She was looking at him with a concerned look.

 

He wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to what he had just witnessed or to the confused woman in front of him.  But as he looked at her, he realized he didn’t care.  He could figure out his vision later.  Right now, Relena was demanding his attention and he was more than happy to provide.  Her swollen lips beckoned him back to them.

 

A soft smile graced his lips and he charged back to her.  His hands curved around her neck, pulling her to him as his lips descended onto hers.  Relena wrapped her arms around his neck and he in turn brought his to close around her waist, pulling her against him.  The blond tangled her fingers through his hair, holding him to her, refusing to let him pull away again.  This time, Jack had no intention of pulling away.

 

The CD player clicked, signaling the last song to play on the CD.

 

_You do something to me_

_Something that simply mystifies me_

_Tell me, why should it be_

_You have the power to hypnotize me?_

 

Relena moaned against his mouth and he used that opportunity to slip his tongue inside.  Relena smiled against his lips before her tongue met his and they began to battle.  The kiss deepened and his hands began trailing up her back before coming back down to rest on her small hips.  Jack backed her up until her back hit the kitchen wall.  He still took another step closer, affectively trapping her against the wall.  His body pressed against hers and she could feel his muscles rippling through his shirt. 

 

_Let me live 'neath your spell_

_Do do that voodoo that you do so well_

_'Cause you do something to me_

_That nobody else could do_

 

He left her mouth and moved down her jaw, placing one small kiss after the other.  Relena tilted her head to give him better access to her neck.  He gratefully latched on, sucking and nipping at the soft flesh he found there.  She closed her eyes as his hands slipped under the white tank top she was wearing.  He traced small circles over her stomach before bringing his fingers back to her sides.  He wiggled them against her, receiving a jerk and giggle at the tickle.  He pulled away and looked down at her, smiling at her reaction.  She smiled back up at him as their eyes met. 

 

_You do something to me_

_Something that simply mystifies me_

_Tell me, why should it be_

_You got the power to hypnotize me?_

 

The two stared at each other, loosing themselves in the other’s eyes.  She curled his hair at the nape of his neck in her fingers.  Jack’s eyes silently asked her permission to continue and she answered with a smiled of encouragement.  His looked down between them, watching as his hands grabbed the hem of her shirt.  Slowly he pulled it up.  Relena stretched her arms up, allowing him to pull the shirt over her head and toss it to the floor. 

_Let me live 'neath your spell_

_Do do that voodoo that you do so well_

_'Cause you do something to me_

_That nobody else can do_

_That no one else in the world can do_

 

He dropped his eyes down to look at her bare chest.  She watched him watch her and her nervousness threatened to show itself.  She held it at bay though and watched as he trailed his hand from her waist up to her breast. 

 

It wasn’t like she hadn’t been here before.  This most definitely was not her first time.  She had spent many nights with _him_ in her bed; her Perfect Soldier.  But this wasn’t her Perfect Soldier.  This was a boy from the coffee shop.  His touches were the same.  His lips were the same.  But it wasn’t him.

 

Relena’s eyes slid shut.  All thoughts flew from her mind as his lips returned to her neck.  Calloused hands massaged her breasts and tweaked her nipples between his fingers while his lips trailed down her collar bone.  Her hands tangled in his hair guiding his head.  He was already on the way down, enveloping her nipple in his warm, wet mouth.  Her eyes flew back open and her head fell back against the wall as pleasure coursed through her.  Jack gently sucked and nibbled on her nipple, his hand massaging her other breast.  She moaned softly and he moved to give the other the same treatment.  Her breathing grew more rapid.

 

He stood tall, crushing his lips back to hers.  He pushed her back against the wall, holding her tight around waist.  With a smile, she thrust her hips against his.  He groaned in surprise.  Clutching her bottom, he lifted her up allowing her legs to wrap around his hips.  He held her back against the wall, grinding his hips into hers.  She could feel his arousal, hard and throbbing against the inside of her thigh.  His lips left hers to trail to her ear.  He grabbed it with his teeth and sucked gently.  Her eyes widened.  That was her spot and only one person knew about it.  It sent courses through her body shooting from her ear down.  She moaned loudly and could feel his smile against her ear.

 

One arm held her and the other trailed down her body.  Two large, calloused fingers slipped in the waistband of her pants and traced along her hip line.  Her hands pulled his hair, pulling him away her ear and crushing his lips back to hers.  He accepted gratefully, slipping his tongue in her mouth and massaging hers.

 

His hand slipped inside the sleep pants and trailed down between her legs.  He pulled his lips away from hers to watch her reaction as he gently ran a finger over her clit.  She sucked in a breath through her teeth and her head fell back once more.  He grinned and reached to kiss her neck as he pressed against her clit a little harder.  She moaned softly and dropped her forehead to his shoulder.  He switched fingers, letting his thumb take the place of his finger as he trailed further down.  She was dripping wet into his hand and he smirk with pride.

 

Relena’s body quivered.  The sensations rolling through her were almost too much to take.  It had been so long.  She could feel where his fingers lie and where he was hesitating.

 

“Please, Jack.”  She groaned in his ear.  She could feel his lips curl into a smile against her cheek.  “Stop teasing me.”

 

“Relena…” he growled back.  She had a feeling his hesitation was him making sure this was what she wanted.  And it definitely was.

 

“Jack!  Please!”  She begged.  And that was all it took.

 

One long finger slipped inside, pushing as far as it could.  Relena cried out and her head once again flew backwards, hitting the wall behind her.  Jack watched the contours of her face change as he pulled out slowly and quickly thrust back in.  He began a steady pace, his thumb rubbing over her tight mound while his finger plundered her.  She began moving with his hand.  Her legs around him tightened as she worked her hips with him.  Her moans filled the empty room.

 

Without warning, he added another finger and paused.  She gasped in surprise.  “Oh God, Jack,” she moaned.  He began moving his fingers in and out.  Relena pulled at his hair as he felt inside her.  Her moans grew louder and her breaths shorter.  He crushed his lips to hers, sending his tongue into her mouth and his fingers deep inside her. 

 

She broke away from the assault on her mouth.  With her breathing coming in short gasps and her peak on the horizon, she couldn’t keep up with his tongue.  He moved to her neck, nipping and sucking on the skin there, leaving his mark.  The pressure inside of her was hitting its mark and Jack moved away from her neck to watch. 

 

Her body tensed, the muscles clenching around his fingers.  He watched in wonder as her back arched against the wall and she cried out his name when pleasure overtook her.  After a moment, she looked back to him, a broad smile on her face.  He returned her smile and withdrew his fingers.  Relena leaned forward and kisses him lightly on the lips.  After a moment, she pulled away and looked at him straight in his deep blue eyes.  Gently, she ran her hand threw his hair.

 

“Take me to bed, Jack.”  She whispered seductively.  He gave her a grin and a “yes ma’am.”  Pulling her off the wall, but keeping her legs wrapped around his waist, he carried her to the bedroom, her giggling all the way.

 

~!~!~!~

 

Sorry for the delay in this chapter.  I was in the Little Shop of Horrors play at our local college.  I played in the pit.  I didn’t realize it would take so much of my time.  Trying to juggle the play, a 1 year old, and my school work was tougher than I thought.  The rest of the chapters should come easily.  Know why?  I’ll tell you a little secret.  Just don’t tell anyone…..I’ve already finished the story.  *gasp*  I know, right!!!   So you don’t have to worry about me not finishing this one.  I’m already working on my next. ;) 


	7. Chapter 7

Me: *looks around*  Lawyer-dude?  Hmmmm………

 

Lawyer:  *yelling from another room*  I’m in the bathroom!  Sheesh!

 

Me:  Oh….*blush*

 

~*~v~*~

 

Relena’s eyes fluttered opened slowly.  She lay on her side, her head pillowed on a hard chest, arm draped over a man’s waist.  His arm wrapped around her waist also, holding her tight to him while the other rested on her arm that was wrapped around his waist.  His slow steady breathing indicated he was still asleep.  She took big blinks as she recalled the night before.

_It had truly been amazing.  Passion and heat incased the room.  He was gentle and rough at the same time.  He touched her where she wanted when she wanted and she returned the gesture with fervor.  But in the throes of passion, she had made a mistake.  She called out the wrong name.  As he sent her over the edge, her mind blanked and she cried out the only name that ran through her head._

_She was horrified.  How could she have made such a grave mistake?  She closed her eyes in embarrassment.  How the hell was she going to explain that?_

_Then he shocked her.  As he came right behind her, her name escaped his lips in a rush._

_Only one person ever called her Lena.  It was his name for her, her “pet name.”  No one was allowed to call her Lena except her Perfect Soldier.  Even after he was gone, the name was refrained from being used by anyone else. Her eyes shot to his and there was a spark of something she hadn’t seen in a very long time.  But as he collapsed on top of her, burying his head in the crook of her neck, the spark was gone.  After a few moments, he propped himself up on his elbows and smiled down at her._

_“Did you call me your ‘hero’?” He laughed.  Relief washed through her and she smiled back up nervously at him._

_“I guess I did,” she breathed.  He leaned forward and kissed her lips before rolling off of her.  He pulled her in close and she snuggled against him.  His fingers trailed through her hair and she tried to get her mind to relax.  All she could see was his eyes behind her eyelids when she closed hers.  His heartbeat thumped against her cheek and she slipped into sleep._

She sighed quietly.  The sun was just starting to rise and she knew she was going to have to get up.  She still had to get home in time to get ready for work.  But oh how she wanted to stay in bed with him all day.  She missed this more than she realized.  She breathed in slowly, taking in his scent for the last time.  Duo was moving him today.  She wouldn’t see him anymore after she left his house.  The thought clenched in her throat as she choked back tears. 

 

_This really is for the best._

She propped herself up on one elbow and looked down at his sleeping form.  He looked so peaceful.  Leaning forward carefully, she placed a soft kiss on his lips.  She stared at him a moment later.

 

Finally she raised herself into a sitting position, holding the sheet to cover her chest.  She closed her eyes and tried to get a grip on herself.  She had to get out of here before she hurt both of them more than she was already going to. 

 

As she made to climb out of the bed, a strong hand grasped her arm.  She jumped with a start and turned slightly on the bed to look back at him.  Jack was watching her intently.

 

“Are you leaving?”  He asked softly.  She smiled and laid back down, propping herself back on her elbow to look down at him.

 

“Yeah.  I don’t have off today like I did yesterday.”  She giggled a little.  “I have to go into work today.”  Jack reached his hand up and brushed his knuckles across her cheek.  Unconsciously she leaned into his touch.

 

“I wish you didn’t have to leave,” he said as his hand changed course to run through her hair. 

 

“I know.  I wish I didn’t either,” she responded honestly.  “But duty calls.”  He nodded his understanding.  The man raised himself up on his elbow facing her, bringing himself inches from her face and her breath caught.

 

“When am I going to see you again?”  He asked, his hand playing with her golden strands.  She internally sighed and her heart dropped. 

 

“I don’t know,” she lied.  “Hopefully soon.”

 

“Tonight?”  His eyes were pleading with her and she had to drop hers from his gaze, allowing them to linger on the sheets between them.

 

“No, not tonight.  I have a speech to write.”  Technically that wasn’t a lie.  She really did have a speech she needed to write up that she should have done yesterday.  Since she instead filled her day with Jack, she really needed to work on it tonight, probably long into the night.  She brought her gaze back to meet his, gaging his reaction.  He nodded again.

 

Relena brought her hand up to his cheek, tracing her finger across his face as if imprinting him into her memory.

 

“I’m going to miss you,” she breathed before she could think of what she was saying.  She didn’t really care anymore though.  He would be gone by the end of the day.  What did it matter anymore?

 

“I’ll miss you too,” he replied with a smile.  She tried desperately to hold her tears back but she knew he saw noticed.  He said nothing though, instead bringing his hand from her hard to grasp the back of her neck lightly.  The half-naked man pulled her in gently, allowing his lips to capture hers.  Her hand left his cheek and moved to snake back around his waist, pulling him to her as her lips moved against his.  He pulled away enough for them to get air before moving back to her again.  This time she let her tongue do the talking and let it trail against his bottom lip.  His mouth opened in response and their tongues met to battle.

 

With his hand still on the back of her neck, he pulled her down on top of him.  She followed him down, refusing the let their kiss end just yet.  He brought his other arm to wrap around her waist, crushing her body tight against his with nothing but a sheet separating their naked bodies.  His body was warm beneath her, hard and solid.  His hand trailed up and down her side, sending shivers down her spine and warmth pooling in her belly. 

 

She moaned in want and the sound brought her back to reality.  She really needed to leave before things went further.  She had to get home and get ready.  Duo would be coming to pick her up for work soon and he couldn’t know what she did.  He would be so disappointed and mad.  She already felt bad putting Quatre in a precarious situation to have to lie if asked.

 

With much effort she pulled away, balancing herself with a hand on his chest as she looked down at him.

 

“I really do have to go.”  She pouted.  He smiled a reassuring smile and nodded.

 

“It’s okay.  I have to get up soon anyway and feed Carrie before I go to work too.”  She smiled down at him and brought her hand up to play with his unruly hair.

 

“I can’t believe you have a dog,” she giggled.  He gave her an incredulous look and laughed back.  _That laugh.  Music to my ears_ she thought.

 

“Why is it so unbelievable that I have a dog?” He asked.  She shrugged her shoulder as best she could while hovering over him.

 

“I don’t know.  I guess I just didn’t see it.”  She answered.  He smiled and shook his head.

 

“You are an enigma,” he stated, cupping her cheek in his hand again. 

 

“You have no idea,” she muttered to herself.  She leaned down to give him one more chaste kiss before climbing out of the bed and starting the search for her clothes.  He sat up in the bed and watched her move around the room.  The sheets pooled around his waist and he smiled at the view before him.

 

Relena looked around the room.  It was only a moment before she remembered that _her_ clothes were still in the dryer.  She looked over to Jack to see he had realized the same thing.  He chuckled as he moved to get out of bed.  His sweats were on the ground at the end of the bed and he reached to grab them, shoving in one leg and then the other. 

 

“I’ll get them,” he said, heading toward the door.  She slipped back onto the bed and looked around.  Jack’s shirt he had worn the night before lay at the head of the bed on her side and she pulled it on.  It was a bit nippy in his room and his shirt would ward off the chill until he returned.  She breathed in the deep scent of him.  His cell phone was on the night stand from the night before.  She quickly grabbed it and called the cab company, issuing a cab immediately to Jack’s home. 

 

Carrie ran into the room as soon as the door was opened.  Relena grinned and scratched the dog behind her ears while Carrie licked her knee.  Jack walked back in, arms full of her now dry clothing, right as she ended the call.  He looked at her as he stepped forwards, shooing Carrie back into the living room.

 

“Sorry,” she blushed, handing him his phone.  “I wasn’t snooping.  I was just calling a cab.”  He grinned and handed her the attire.

 

“No worries,” he sat next to her as she began dressing.  “I trust you.”  She froze at the words, guilt rolling through her body.  “Plus,” he added, “There’s nothing in there worth seeing.”  He laughed.  She smiled at him before pulling on her jeans.  She stood to button them and then reached for the hem of his shirt he wore to pull it off.  He stood and grabbed the shirt before she could take it off.  She looked at him confused.

 

“Jack?”

 

“Keep it.  It’s too early in the morning to be wearing a halter top.  And it’s a little windy out.  Go home comfortable.”  He answered with a smirk.  Pulling her closer by the shirt he still had in his grasp and wrapping an arm around her waist, he leaned over enough the whisper in her ear huskily in her ear.  “You can return it later.”  He placed a soft kiss on her neck.  He placed small kisses on trailing up her jaw line before capturing her lips again with his.

 

She responded instantly, snaking her arms around his neck and crushing her body to his.  Jack’s fingers slipped under her shirt and traced up and down her side.  His calloused fingers tickled her and she giggled into his mouth.  There was a beep outside, signaling the cab had arrived.  _That was fast._

He pulled away and she quickly pulled on her socks and shoes.  When she was done, he grabbed her hoodie off the bed where she left it to get dressed and gently took her hand.  Together they walked to the front door, Carrie hot on their heels.  Jack pulled open the front door and held up a finger to signal the man to wait one minute.  He driver waved his hand in understanding as the taxi idled.  Carrie sat by the door, looking expectantly. 

 

“In a few minutes, Car,” Jack answered the dog.  “Go lay down.”  Carrie huffed and walked to the couch, climbing up and laying down.  Relena giggled at the pup.

 

“She listens well,” she said.  Jack nodded and looked at his furry canine. 

 

“She’s a good girl,” he smiled.  Turning back to her, he handed her the hoodie to put on.  She muttered her thanks and pulled it over her head.  After it was settled, she looked back to the man so see him staring at said hoodie. 

 

“Oh,” she looked down at the man’s attire she wore before looking back to him.  “This isn’t mine.”  He nodded.

 

“Your _friend’s_?” he asked.  The word tasted sour on his tongue and it didn’t miss her.

 

“Actually, it’s a different friend’s,” she replied, turning a little red.  His eyes narrowed slightly.

 

“How many guy friends do you have?”  He asked.  She smiled before answering. 

 

“A few.  I have a bunch of girl friends too, ya know.  They just weren’t around to let me borrow a jacket when I left last night.  To come here.  To see _you._ ”  She poked him in the chest playfully. 

 

“Did your friend know you were coming to see me?” He asked suspiciously.  She grinned.

 

“Why, Jack.  Dare I say you are jealous?”  She giggled.  He looked a bit embarrassed and before he could answer, she grabbed him around the neck and pulled him against her.  “Yeah,” she answered, her lips so close to his she could feel his breath on her.  “He knows.  He encouraged it.  He just wants me to be happy.”  She gave him a quick peck on the lips.  “And I am.”  Peck.  “Very happy.”  She gave him another peck.  Before she could pull away, he tangled his fingers through her hair, holding her tight to him.  After a moment, he pulled away.

 

“Besides, he will know you are now taken,” he smirked.  She looked up at him confused.

 

“How?”  He didn’t answer, instead leaning back down to capture her lips again.  The taxi outside beeped again and Jack pulled away.

 

“You need to go or you will never leave,” he joked.  She smiled back at him as he opened the door.  She took a step out, standing on the stoop. 

 

“Bye, Carrie!” She called to the dog, who let out a yelp in response but otherwise didn’t move from her spot.  She looked back to Jack and gave him a smile.  “Goodbye, Jack.”  She touched his cheek lightly.

 

“I’ll see you soon, Relena,” he smiled down at her and kissed her gently. 

 

She turned and headed down the steps toward the taxi.  A deep sigh escaped her lips as she climbed in.  Relena gave him one more fleeting looked before the taxi pulled away.

 

~*~

 

 

She turned and headed down the steps toward the taxi.  Carrie moved to sit beside him and they watched her leave together.  Once she had pulled away, Jack looked down at his companion. 

 

“Well, Carrie.  We are definitely making progress,” he smiled with a wink.  Carrie barked and jumped in the air, earning a laugh from her master at her antics.  “Go on.  Go outside.”  At his word, she rushed into the front yard.  “But hurry up!  It’s cold out here!”  He called after her.  The wind whipped and a chill went down his back.  The rain brought in a cold gust.  It would probably be chilly the rest of the day.

 

The post man came by, putting some in Mrs. Pheelers box.  He passed by Jack’s without putting anything in, waving as he did so.  Jack waved back.  As an afterthought, he looked over to Mrs. Pheeler’s house.  She would be coming out soon to get the mail.  He frowned slightly as the wind blew again. 

 

“Stay in the yard, Carrie,” he called out to his pooch.  She sniffed around a bush, effectively ignoring her daddy.  Jack ran back in the house and to his room.  He threw the shirt on Relena had worn last night.  He walked back to the front door, grabbing his jacket and slipping it on.  He stepped back outside and headed to his neighbor’s house.  He grabbed her mail and headed up to her door.

 

It was early and although he knew Mrs. Pheeler was probably awake, he didn’t want to disturb her.  He opened her screen door as quietly as possible and stashed her mail between it and that door.  Smiling triumphantly at himself, he headed back to his own home, calling Carrie in with him.

 

After feeding her, eating himself, and taking a shower, it was almost time to go to work.  Since he had some time before hand, he decided to walk.  It was a little nippy out but the fresh air would do him good.  He shoved his hands in his pockets and headed down the road, the night before playing in his head.

 

Last night had been amazing.  She had come over to talk to him but they didn’t get to do much talking.  He didn’t know why he kissed her.  It just felt like the right thing to do.  And she didn’t seem to mind.  After that initial first kiss, he couldn’t stop.  It felt so natural, so easy, so….familiar.  He couldn’t place why but it felt like he had been there before, touched her before. 

 

He didn’t mess up any it seemed.  He touched her in all the right places, kissed her in all the right places.  She did the same for him; like she knew him.  Knew what he liked.  Knew what he didn’t like.    It was the perfect sexual experience.  Most couples take a while to get there, to learn each other.  But not them.  Somehow they already knew.

 

He kept seeing things.  Visions; memories; hallucinations.  He wasn’t really sure what they were.  Scenes would flash through his head.  All of them were of her.  In all of them, they were together, in bed.  They weren’t in his bed like they were last night.  They were in another bed; a more comfortable bed than his.  And he felt more at home in that bed than in his own.  He just didn’t understand it.

 

When he felt himself getting close to edge, he completely lost himself.  His mind felt like he was someone else.  He cried out her name when he reached his peak.  _Lena._   Where did that come from?  It felt so right, like a pet name.  But he hadn’t called her that before; hadn’t heard anyone else call her that.  She never mentioned it to him.  But it didn’t pass him the look she gave when he called her that.  He would have to remember to ask her about that when he saw her again.

 

He really didn’t mean for last night to go as far as it did.  When she first showed up on his doorstep, the rain trickling down her hair and face, his first concern was getting her warm and dry.  But when she had come out, dressed in his clothes, she just looked damn sexy!  He couldn’t take his eyes off her.  Why did she have to be so damn cute?

 

The wind blew his hair and he shook his head at himself.  This girl was stuck in his head.  She had been since the first time he saw her.  Before she had walked into the coffee house, he felt empty.  Lost.  He didn’t know what to do with his life.  But since that day she entered his life, a flood of emotions attacked his senses.  He felt a connection with her.  Felt the need to protect her.  Even felt he might…

He couldn’t.  He just met her.  They hadn’t even had a real date yet.  Yesterday’s had been interrupted by that braided idiot.  He couldn’t wait to see that guy again.  That man reminded him of someone but he couldn’t quite place him. 

 

His head was starting to hurt.  He was very confused with all this.  He couldn’t wait to get to work.  Hopefully they would have a busy day and at least for the eight hours he was there, he would think about coffee, and not Relena Darlian.

 

~*~

 

“Princess!  You ready?   We’re gunna be late!”  Duo called up the stairs to her.  Quatre had already left for the conference. 

 

“I’m coming!” She yelled back from her room.  She gave herself one more look over in the mirror before rushing out.  When she had gotten home, she had seen what Jack had meant by people knowing she was taken.  A rather large hickey sat on her neck and she spend too long in front of the mirror covering it with makeup.  Duo was waiting at the bottom of the steps, tapping his watch at her.  “I know, I know.  I’m running late.  I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s unlike you, Le.  What’s going on?”  He asked, playing dumb.  Of course he knew why she was running late. 

 

“I guess I just slept in too late.”  She said, quickly walking past him toward the door.  She grabbed her brief case by the door and ran out.  Duo shook his head and followed.  As they finally settled in the limo across from each other, Duo tapped the window behind him to signal the driver they were ready.

 

The vehicle held an uncomfortable silence.  Relena did her best to avoid Duo while Duo was staring at her intently.  Finally, Relena couldn’t take it anymore.

 

“So…did you and Hilde have a good night last night?”  She asked, still not able to meet his gaze completely.  She was afraid of what he might find there.  She heard Duo let out a sigh before he answered.

 

“Yeah, dinner was nice.”

 

“Did you guys go dancing afterwards like you planned?”  This small talk was bothering her. 

 

“No.  Something came up…” He answered.  She looked back to him a bit surprised.  Hilde had been very excited to go dancing.  She had even bought a special outfit for the occasion she was going to change into after dinner.

 

“Oh?”

 

“Yeah,” he looked straight into her eyes.  “So what did you do last night?”  She broke their stare and looked down at her twiddling fingers.

 

“Well….you know….just….stuff…..”  She trailed off.  She glanced up at Duo to see one eyebrow quirked.  She quickly looked back down.  Her guilt from yesterday and the night before was getting to her.  “Look, Duo.  I’m really sorry about yesterday.”  She looked back to him to see his eyes had softened. 

 

“I’m sorry to, Le.  I feel like things have gotten way out of hand.”  He replied sadly.  Relena nodded with a sniff. 

 

“I understand why you are moving him.  I don’t like it, but I understand.”  She said softly.  Duo sighed and moved across the limo to sit next to her.

 

“I don’t want to do it, Relena.  Trust me, I like having him close.  But we have to get on with our lives and I think that this is the best way.  For all of us.”  Relena nodded, her eyes on her hands in her lap.  Duo wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him.  They remained silent for a few moments.  Finally, “So….have fun last night?”  His voice was a lot lighter.

 

Relena sat up straight and looked at him with wide eyes.  He had a suggestive smirk on his face.

 

“How did you…?”  He laughed at her confused expression.

 

“Don’t you know you can’t get nothin’ past the God of Death?  I know all,” he winked at her.  She blushed and ducked her head.  Duo put two fingers under her chin, lifting it slightly to make sure she looked him in the eyes.  “Relena, it’s okay.  I’m not gunna lie, I was pissed.  But did you do what you had to do?”  She nodded in his hand.  “Then for what it’s worth, I’m glad you went.”

 

Relena smiled through her newly formed tears and threw her arms around her American friend.  He hugged her back.

 

“Thank you, Duo.  I’m so sorry about everything.”  She pulled away just enough to look at him.  “Let’s never fight again.”  She laughed.  He returned her laugh.

 

“Deal!  Are you still mad at Hilde?”  He asked.  Relena laid her head back on his shoulder.

 

“No.  I’m not mad at anyone.  I just want this all to go away.  Hey, we should go out tonight.  We will double date.  You and Hilde and me and Quatre.  He’s going to be going back home this weekend.  We should do something nice.”

 

“Sounds great.  I’m sure Hilde and Quatre will love that.  Hilde has been torn up about all of this.   She will be ecstatic to know you guys are cool.”

 

“We are always cool.  I was upset yesterday, but I love her.  That won’t ever stop.”  She leaned back up and kissed him on the cheek.  “And I loooove you too,” she giggle.  “I honestly don’t know what I would do without you two and Quatre.”  The limo pulled up to Relena’s office.

 

“Well, we don’t know what we would do without you either, Le.  You are the glue that holds us all together.”

 

Relena sighed.  “I miss Trowa and Catherine.  And Sally.  I don’t see her as often as I would like.  And I haven’t heard from Dorothy in a while.  I even miss Wufie, if you can believe it!”  This earned her a chuckle.  “I’d love for all of us to get together again.”

 

Duo sighed.  “I know, Princess.  I do too.  I do too.”

 

 

~*~

 

Would be nice, huh?  Enjoying the story, everyone?


	8. Chapter 8

Me:  So…..apparently I lied.  We still have another chapter before the epilog!!

 

Lawyer:  Woot!  *happy dance*

 

Me:  Oh!  Oh!  My eyes!!!  Please stop!

 

Lawyer:  …….*sniff sniff*

 

Me:  Um…..okay…..can we just go on with the story?

 

Lawyer:  …..*nods*…….*sniff sniff*

 

Me:  Uh ok.  Um, I don’t own Gundam Wing.  So…..yeah….

 

~*~v~*~

 

Relena glanced at the clock.  It was almost time to go.  She had tried to make her day very busy to avoid thinking about Jack and the night before.  It didn’t work.  None of the files she read through stuck.  All her phone calls went in one ear and out the other.  Finally she had given up, deciding instead to work on the speech she needed to write tonight.  She had plans with Duo, Hilde, and Quatre to go out to dinner.  Afterwards was a secret.  Duo called at lunch to tell her he had a surprise.

 

_Duo and his surprises.  It could be anything._

She had gotten most of her speech written.  Tonight after she got home, she would finish it up before going to bed.  She was pretty proud of herself. 

 

There was a knock on the door.  Relena looked toward it.

 

“Come in,” she called out.  Quickly she began shoving papers and folders into her desk.  The speech she put in her brief case.  She looked up to see Quatre had walked in and was now seated in the chair opposite her desk.  “Hey,” she breathed.  “I’m almost done.” 

 

Quatre held up a hand in dismissal.  “Take your time.”

 

“How did your meeting with Senator Jacobs go?” She asked, putting more files in her desk.

 

“It went well.”  He replied.  Relena stood and Quatre followed.  She grabbed her briefcase and walked around the desk to meet the blond man.  Quatre took her briefcase from her and held out his arm.  She took it with a smile and the two walked out of the office together.

 

“Do you know where we are going tonight?”  She asked.

 

“No.  All I know is Hilde said to “get dressy”.  So I’m guessing it’s somewhere fancy.”  He waved politely at someone they passed in the hall.  People gave them looks and she knew this would only feed into the rumors about them being a couple.  She didn’t care.  Less suitors she had to worry about.  No one would dare try to call upon her when she was dating Representative Winner.    “So, I noticed you didn’t come home last night,” he smirked at her sideways.  Relena blushed deeply.  “Have a nice little “talk?””

 

“Well….I…”  She stammered.  Quatre laughed as they entered the elevator.

 

“Hey, hey.  You don’t have to explain to me.  Did you have a good time?”  Relena nodded.

 

“I did.  By the way, how did Duo find out?” She turned to him as she asked.  Quatre grimaced at the question. 

 

“Well, he kind of showed up last night while you were gone.  He wanted to talk to you.”

 

“Talk to me?  What about?”

 

“I think it was about what happened on your date with Jack.  You know, the kissing you and stuff.  He said he didn’t want to fight with you.  He was trying to look for you.”  Quatre said sheepishly.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t tell him where you went but I didn’t deny it either when he figured it out.”  Relena nodded.

 

“It’s okay, Quatre.”  She reached up and kissed him on the cheek.  Quatre blushed in response.  “It’s because of you I got to have last night in the first place.”  The doors opened and the two retreated out into the hall of the first floor and out the front door.  Pagan stood by the limo at the bottom of the stairs with the door open, awaiting its recipients.  The couple slipped into the limo and headed back home.

 

The two headed upstairs to their designated rooms.  “Duo said he would be here in about an hour.”  Quatre announced before she entered her own room.

 

“Okay, thank you.”  Relena entered her room, closing the door behind her, and headed for her closet.  “Dressy…..dressy…..how dressy is dressy….” She muttered to herself.  After a moment of gazing through her wardrobe, she sighed and pulled out her phone.  She didn’t want to be too dressy for this dinner, but she didn’t want to be under dressed.  The phone gave three rings before the other answered.

 

“Hello?” 

 

“Hilde, I have a question about tonight,” Relena stated as she began undressing from her work clothes.  “You said to “get dressy.”  How dressy is dressy?  Like, picnic dressy?  Business dressy?  Gala dressy?”  Hilde giggled on the other end of the line.

 

“Not quite gala dressy.  The guys will be in suits, if that helps any.”  Hilde answered.  In nothing but a slip and her undergarments, Relena walked back to the closet and began sifting through clothes, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder.

 

“Okay, I think I have the perfect one.”  Relena pulled out a dress.

 

“You should wear that purple one!  You know that’s Quatre’s favorite color so I’m sure he will be wearing a purple bow tie.  You could match!  That’s what I’m doing with Duo.”  Relena’s mouth dropped at Hilde’s remark.

 

“That’s exactly the dress I pulled out!”  She exclaimed.  She could feel Hilde smile on the other line.

 

“See!  Great minds!  I’ll see ya in about an hour, girl,” Hilde giggled before ending the call.  Relena threw the phone onto the bed before heading toward the bathroom with her dress. 

 

After her shower, Relena put on her dress of choice and sat in front of her vanity.  She applied light make-up and curled her hair to the side.  Diamond dangle earrings hung from her ears.  Her dress was a pleated purple gown that clutched her breasts before flowing freely from her waist to her feet.  A sliver embroidered belt hugged waist directly below her breasts.  The top turned into a halter with the same silver embroider formed as buttons on the straps.  She twirled in front of her full length mirror and watched as the skirt of her dress flared out.  She loved dresses that flared.

 

Glancing down at her watch, she smiled seeing it was almost time.  She had heard Duo and Hilde come in a few minutes ago.  They were now waiting for her downstairs.  She jumped when a knock came at the door.  Before she could answer, Quatre’s voice came through.

 

“Relena, whenever you’re ready, we are downstairs.”

 

“Okay, be down in just one second!”  She answered excitedly.  She glanced at herself one more time in the mirror.  The reflection of something behind her caught her eye.  She turned to her bear on the bed.  The blond gave a soft, sad smile and walked to her bed.  She took a seat on the edge and pulled the bear into her lap, holding him tight to her chest.  A picture donned her bedside table and she picked it up with one hand while her other still clutched the bear.

 

The picture was of _him._   Her soldier.  Taken on the night of a ball, he was dressed in a white tuxedo.  He had gone as her date as well as her guard.  Relena smiled at the memory.  She tricked him into taking a picture.  As he was walking across her room, she called his name.  He half turned to face her and _click._ He glared at her afterwards but she just laughed.

 

The memory brought a smile to her lips.  Oh how she missed him.  She gave a deep sigh and replaced the items back to their original spots.  She stood and headed out of her bedroom door to join her friends.

 

~*~

 

“Are you sure you have to go over there?”  Hilde whispered urgently.

 

“Yeah, babe.  What else am I going to do?  I couldn’t move him in one day.”  Her love whispered back.

 

“I know.”

 

“And she stayed the night with him last night.”    


“Yeah.

 

“Which means he is going to try and call her or come see her or something before I have a chance to get him moved and that is going to wreck everything.”  Duo explained even though he didn’t need to.  Hilde sighed and moved to sit on the couch in the living room as they waited for Quatre and Relena to come down.  Duo moved to the back of the couch, placed to hands on the back, and looked down at her.  She looked back up at him with worried eyes.

 

“Are you going to be able to do it?”  She asked quietly.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean, Duo, you haven’t talked to him at all.”  Hilde turned to sit on her knees facing the back of the couch and her husband.  “The closest you’ve been to him was yesterday and I know that took a toll on you.  I can see it in your eyes.”  Duo looked away from her but she brought her hand to his cheek, forcing his eyes to hers.  “I just don’t want you to do too much; to hurt more than you are.”  Duo smiled at her.

 

“I’ll be fine, babe.  I’m stronger than you think,” he winked.  Hilde pulled him down into a kiss.

 

“I love you,” she muttered as they broke for air.

 

“And I love you,” he smiled before attacking her lips again.

 

“Get a room!”  Came the voice of the 04 pilot.  The couple broke away to towards the stairs where Quatre was making his decent.

 

“Where’s Relena?”  Hilde asked, ignoring her blond friend’s remark.

 

“She said she would be down in a second.  She should be right behind me.”  He said as he hit the bottom of the staircase. 

 

“Women!”  Duo exclaimed, earning him a punch in the arm from his dear wife.  “Ow, babe!  I didn’t mean you!  I meant the princess.  Jeesh!”  He rubbed his sore arm.

 

“I resent that remark!”  Came a voice from above.  Everyone turned to see Relena standing at the top of the staircase.    She began walking down slowly, her dress swooshing around her with each step. 

 

“Whoah…” Duo muttered.  Hilde climbed off the couch and came around to stand beside the braided man as she watched the VFM with a smile.  Relena reached the bottom and met her friends.  “Damn, Princess, you clean up nice!”  Relena giggled.

 

“Duo, you see me all dressy like this for balls and galas all the time.”

 

“Yeah, but you seem more relaxed tonight and it shows.”  Hilde explained.

 

“Yeah.  You’re not dressed to be dressed.  You’re dressed to have some fun.  It looks good on ya!”  Duo winked at her.  Relena playfully smacked his arm.

 

“Well, you don’t look too bad yourself.”  She grinned.  “Hilde, I love your dress!”

 

Hilde looked down at her attire.  Her black, silk dress reached her ankles and donned a slit all the way up to her mid-thigh on the left.  It fit her body perfect, the top right half a strap that held her dress while the left clung tightly to her breast. 

 

“Thank you!”  Hilde exclaimed.  Duo wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him.

 

“My baby is always beautiful,” he said with a seductive grin.  Hilde giggled at him and Relena turned to Quatre to give the couple their private moment.  Quatre smiled.

 

“You wore purple.”  It was a statement, not a question, but Relena felt the need to answer.

 

“Yeah, well, I had to match my date.”  She flicked his purple bow tie with a giggle. 

 

“Alright, peoples!  Let’s get out of here!  We got a reservation to keep.”  Duo called out happily.  The two couples linked arms and headed out the door.

 

Duo had made reservations at the fanciest restaurant in town, _Molasses Grill_.  Despite the name, the Molasses Grill was a very high end restaurant.  Relena vaguely wondered how Duo was affording this kind of place, as he had offered to pay for every.  She made a mental note to say something to Hilde later about it so as not to hurt the former Deathscythe’s pilot’s pride by asking now.  Dinner was wonderful.  The food was delectable, the company was sublime, and Relena couldn’t remember the last time she had had such a good time.  They laughed and cracked jokes.  They talked about work and how they needed to have more fun.  And they definitely were.

 

Duo announced at dinner that he and Hilde would be staying the night in a guest room at Relena’s after the festivities.  The two planned on the group doing a bit of drinking, despite the fact that everyone had to work the next morning and Quatre had a shuttle to catch.  Relena didn’t mind, even if she did wake up hung over.  After the past few days, she could definitely afford to lose herself in a few drinks.

 

After dinner, the four went dancing.  Yes, dancing.  Duo said he knew how much Relena liked dancing and how he had never taken Hilde.  They went to _Musica Dal Viv_ , a high end club on the opposite side of town.  Velvet couches, salsa music, the most expensive drinks, and a dance floor full of gorgeously dress people.  Quatre took a turn paying for them all this round.  They practically stayed on the dance floor, occasionally switching partners between songs.  By the end of the night, Relena’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. 

 

As the night came to a close, Duo called the limo to meet them out front.  The cold air hit against her hot, sweaty skin and a chill ran down her back.  Quatre put his jacket on her shoulders and Duo did the same with Hilde as they waited for the limo.

 

“Hey, guys.  I forgot to bring us a change of clothes.  I gotta run to the house.”  Duo said as he hailed a taxi. 

 

“Duo, we can run you buy your house on our way home.  It’s no big deal.”  Relena offered.

 

“Nah, it’s okay, Princess.  You guys can go home and get all comfy.  It won’t take me long.”  He winked at her.  Giving Hilde a kiss, he climbed into the taxi and pulled away.  This limo pulled in behind the leaving taxi and Quatre opened the door for the ladies before climbing in behind them.

 

~*~

 

Jack sat on his couch with a book in his hand.  Carrie lay right next to him on the couch, her head in his lap.  One hand held his book while the other scratched his pup behind her ears.  It had been an easy day.  Work was busy so the day flew by.  He had dinner with Mrs. Pheeler when he got home as thanks for helping her the day before and getting her mail for her that morning.

 

Now he sat in silence, reading.  Throwing himself into a book was calming and relaxing and it was just the thing he needed before he took a shower and went to bed.  Relena had been on his mind all day.  She had said she would be busy tonight so he hadn’t called her.  He didn’t want to disturb her.  But tomorrow, maybe they could actually go out.  He hoped anyway.  It had occurred to him that he never got her number.  In the commotion of everything, it was something he had forgotten.  But he could always call her office around lunch time when she would have a break.  That way he wouldn’t bother her in the middle of something.

 

He turned a page lazily and returned to Carrie’s ears.  Suddenly the dog’s head shot up as they both heard a car door.  Jack looked toward the door and Carrie let out a low growl in warning to whoever was approaching.  His breath caught.  He wasn’t expecting anyone.  There was a feeling of dread seeping through him and he didn’t like it.  He had the distinct feeling to grab a gun.  _What an absurd thought.  I don’t even own a gun._

There was a loud knock.   Carrie shot off the couch, barking viciously at the door.  Jack dropped the book on the coffee table and stood.

 

“Carrie,” he admonished.  “Down, girl.”  Carrie took a few steps back and sat down, still growling and barring her teeth.  Jack slowly opened the door and peeked out.  A man stood on his doorstep wearing a plain white t-shirt, a black dress shirt unbuttoned, and black jeans.  His braid reached down to his ass and a huge smile donned his face.  Jack frowned.  It was the same man, Relena’s “friend”, who had so rudely interrupted their date yesterday.  _What is he doing here?_

 

“Hey there, buddy!  Mind if I come in?”  He asked.  Jack sized him up for a moment before taking a step back and opening the door a little wider, allowing the braided man to enter.  “Thanks, man.”  He said as he stepped inside.  Carrie growled louder.  “Hey, pup!”  The man reached down to pet the pooch.  She snapped at him and took a step back.  He snatched his hand back and held it to his chest.  “Man.  Relena said you were sweet.”  He muttered under his breath.

 

“Carrie, go lay down.  Go.”  Jack ordered.  The dog turned and walked to the kitchen.  She laid down right at the entrance and kept her eyes on the intruder in her home.  Jack turned back to the man, a glare taking over his features.  “What do you want?”  He asked harshly.

 

“Now that’s not very nice.  Jack, right?  I’ve heard a lot about you, bud.”  He said cheerfully.

 

“Funny.  I haven’t heard a thing about you.”  Jack retorted dryly.  The braided man clutched his stomach and doubled over as if the insult had been a punch in the stomach. 

 

“Damn, man.  That smarts.” 

 

“Is there something I can do for you?”  Jack asked in annoyance.  His “guest” straightened up and looked at him straight in the eye.

 

“Down to business, I see.  Alrighty.  Look bud, I just wanted to talk to ya about the Princess.  I’m s-“

 

“The Princess?”

 

“Yeah, sorry.  That’s my nickname for Relena.”  The man clarified, scratching the back of his head.  Jack had the strange feeling that he knew that already.  “Anyway, I’m sorry about yesterday.  I’m sure Relena told you we are most definitely not a couple.  I am a very happily married man to a very sexy little pixy.”  He winked at Jack.  Jack folded his arms across his chest.  “But I did it for a reason.”

 

“And that would be?”  The man sighed and moved to sit in the recliner.  Jack sat on the couch and looked to the braided man, who leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and look down at his feet.  Carrie trotted to the couch and jumped on, sitting next to her owner and staring at the invader.  He took a minute to gather himself before looking back to the man on the couch.

 

“Alright, man.  Here’s the deal.  You like Relena.  And I know she likes you.  But there is something you need to understand.”  He paused and looked away.  He had a slightly pain look on face when he looked back at Jack.  “Relena was in love with this guy.  And when I say in love…..I mean in love.  Like desperately in love.  And he was madly in love with her.  It took him a while to figure it out but when he did, they were so happy together.  The perfect couple.”  The man looked away back down toward the ground.  “He was my best friend.”  He said softly.  Silenced coated the room.  Finally Jack cleared his throat.

 

“So what happen to him?”  He asked.  The braided American sighed deeply before he answered.

 

“He’s gone.”  He replied simply.  After a moment, he cleared his throat as if to chase away some sadness, and sat up straighter, leaning back in the chair.  “This was about a year ago.  I took over the position of being her guard for him since he isn’t around anymore.  She has been a wreck ever since.  We all have.  That is…until she found you.”

 

“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing.”

 

“Well….it’s just…..she’s not over _him_.  And I wouldn’t expect her to be.  I think….I think you are a rebound.  You do kinda look like him,” he joked with a smile that was only present on his lips.  “I know she is not ready….for…well, anything.  And if you both keep going, you are both going to get hurt.  I can’t see her hurt any more than she already is.

 

“That guy….he affected all of us more than we ever expected.”  He continued, no longer looking at Jack, but staring off into space as if remembering.  He crossed one leg over the other, letting his ankle rest on his knee, and crossed his arms with a small smile.  “We’ve all been through so much together.  And for him to just……”  He sighed.  “He was our friend, our comrade, our brother….. _my_ brother.

 

“And I got my pay back.”  He grinned a sadistic grin.  Then, as if remembering where he was, he sat straight up and looked back at Jack.  “I’m sorry, man!” A smile replaced the grin.  “I got away from myself for a minute.  I guess I don’t really have anyone to talk to, ya know?  Everyone’s hurting.  But that’s not your problem, right?”  He laughed.  Jack looked at him confused.  “Listen, my man.   All I’m trying to say is that you came in at a bad time.  I really think it would be best for her if you just gave her some space.  I know you don’t want to.  It sucks.  Trust me, I understand.  But for her sake, and yours, I really think you should just leave her alone.  Maybe later you guys can…you know….but right now?  Not a good time.”  The braided man finally ended.  Jack looked down and thought to himself.

 

He surely didn’t want to hurt her.  He didn’t understand what it meant to lose someone you love.  And if he did, he didn’t remember it at all.  But there was some strange attachment to that blond.  He couldn’t stop thinking about her; felt he needed to protect her; wanted more of her in every way.  But that was selfish and he knew it.  If she wasn’t ready for a relationship, he refused to push her into one.  He would wait for her. 

 

He looked up to the braided man who was watching him intently and nodded.  The man smiled.

 

“I’m sorry, bud.  I know it sucks.”

 

“It really does,” Jack breathed and ran a hand through his unruly hair.  The braided man stood. 

 

“It was great talking to ya, bud.”  He held out his hand.  “I’m sorry we had to meet this way.”  Jack stared at his hand a minute before taking it into a firm shake.  “Maybe one day we can actually be friends.”  He joked. 

 

“Yeah, maybe,” Jake replied.  _Friends.  Pfft._   The braided man headed for the door.  Jack moved from the couch to watch him go.  “Hey, I didn’t catch your name.”  The braided visitor stopped with his hand on the doorknob.  He looked over his shoulder at Jack with a smirk.

 

“Sorry, bro.  The name is Duo Maxwell.”   And with that, the man closed the door behind him on the way out.  Jack stood stock still.  _That name…_

 

Jack’s eyes widened as visions flashed through his head and it started to hurt.  He saw that same man, only younger, pointing a gun at him on a ship. 

 

Then they were falling together, the braided man, Duo, with a fan to slow him down. 

 

They were captured by someone, sitting in a room with a Chinese man. 

 

_The Chinese man…_

 

Different people flooded his mind; a blond man wearing a vest; a tall man with bangs covering one eye, the Chinese man; Duo.

 

“ _We’ve all been through so much together…”_

_Relena_

 

The blonde’s face flashed in his mind.  They were dancing, her in a school uniform. 

 

Then he was pointing a gun at her.  She wore a white dress with a red sash.

 

Jack clutched his head in his hands.  “What’s wrong with me?!”  He cried out.  “Relena….she knows….she knows more than she’s telling me.  Who am I?  I have to find out.  I have to go see her.”   He said to himself.  Grabbing his jacket, he ran out of the house, leaving a very confused Carrie behind.

 

~*~^~*~

 

My favorite chapter is next.  It’s the whole reason I wrote this fic.

^_^ And here…we….go!


	9. Chapter 9

Me:  Last chapter.  Then the epilog!!

 

Lawyer:  Wait….what?

 

Me:  You had fair warning last chapter.  I don’t want to hear it.

 

Lawyer:  *blink blink*

 

Me:  Anyways, I don’t own Gundam Wing

 

Lawyer:  *sniff sniff*

 

~*~v~*~

 

The taxi pulled in front of the Peacecraft manor.  Duo paid the drive and climbed out.  He passed a few guards as he walked up to the house, waving in greeting.  He took the steps two at a time carrying a back pack over his shoulder.  Pulling his keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the front door and let himself in.  Quatre and Hilde sat on the couches chatting.  They turned to look at him as he entered.    Duo smiled at the pair as he walked over, handing the backpack to the still dressed up Hilde. 

 

“Thanks, babe,” she said as she stood.  She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before heading to the bathroom to get changed.  Duo hopped over the back of the couch and landed on the soft cushion.  He looked to his blonde friend.

 

“Well you look awfully comfy over there, Quat,” he said, throwing his hands behind his head in comfort.  Quatre looked down at himself before returning a smile to the braided man.  He wore a baggy white shirt and a pair of gray sweat pants.

 

“Yeah, well, the last time you said “we are going to drink a little tonight,” I barely made it to my bed, much less out of my work clothes,” Quatre teased.  Duo laughed loudly.

 

“Where’s Relena?”  He asked.  Quatre motioned to the staircase with a tip of his head.

 

“She went to take a shower and put on some comfy clothes too.”

 

“Ah, okay.”  There was silence in the room for a minute before Quatre asked.

 

“So, how did it go?”  Duo raised an eyebrow in response.  “Hilde told me where you went.”  Duo rolled his eyes dramatically.

 

“Women!  They cannot keep a secret to save their lives!”  He cried out.

 

“Um, excuse me.  You never said it was a secret!”  Came a female voice from the bathroom.  Duo flinched without even having to see who it was.  “Plus, I kept it from the person who mattered, so I think I did a pretty damn good job.”  She smacked her braided husband on the back of the head.  Duo rubbed the newly formed bruise as Hilde came around to sit beside him.  Now dressed in a black spaghetti strap tank top and white short shorts, she snuggled under Duo’s arm.

 

“Man, everyone looks super comfy.”  He looked down at himself.  “And I’m dressed in jeans.  Not cool, man.  Not cool.”  Hilde giggled and sat back up.  Reaching to the coffee table, she grabbed the bottle of liquor and three of the four shot glasses and poured them all a shot.  She passed one off to each of the guys and kept one for herself.

 

“Here, babe.  After a few of these, you won’t care what you’re wearing.”  She giggled.  Duo grinned.

 

“One the count of three….one….two….three!”  The trio tipped the shot glasses and sucked down the alcohol.  All three grimaced as the liquid burned on the way down. 

 

“Ahhh….”  Duo breathed.

 

“You know,” Quatre set the offending glass on the table and shivered.   “The last time you got drunk,” he looked to Duo, “and was _not_ in ‘comfy clothes’, you ended up stripping down to your boxers.  That way you “could be just as comfy as the rest of us.””  Quatre wiggled his fingers in the air.  Hilde turned to Duo.

 

“That is very true.  It was pretty disturbing.”  Duo’s jaw dropped. 

 

“Wow.  I feel the love.”  The other two laughed as his obviously fake hurt expression.

 

“I have some clothes upstairs you can wear if you want,” Quatre said as he stood, not waiting for an answered.  As he headed for the stairs, Duo chuckled.

 

“Thanks, buddy!”

 

“Yes, Quatre,” Hilde smiled.  “You are quite the humanitarian.”  She teased.  Duo looked at her shocked.

 

“Babe!  Why do you have to be so mean?  I thought you…”  He was interrupted by a scream erupting from upstairs.  Everyone stopped and looked at each other.  Quatre was already half way up the stairs.  After only a second, the couple jumped off the couch and rushed up the steps following Quatre who was already almost at the top.

 

~*~

 

Jack arrived at the Peacecraft manor.  The taxi let him out a block away from the front gate.  Jack knew better than to pull right up front.  He remembered what the Duo man told him.  And she was the Vice Foreign Minister.  He was sure she would have guards that would prevent him from getting anywhere close to her.

 

He had to be sneaky.

 

A familiar sensation came over him as he climbed the gate.  This felt surprisingly easy to him.  He knew where all the cameras were placed.  _They make it pretty obvious._   He crept around the yard, dodging between trees and bushes avoiding the guards that patrolled the area.  _This is too easy,_ he thought.  _I’m going to have to tell Relena to up her security.  No one should be able to get through here._

 

He reached the back of the house and looked up.  On the second story sat a balcony.  Jack looked around him and, upon seeing no one, he began climbing the brick wall.  Somehow he knew where to put his hands and feet so as not to fall.  He never missed a spot and wondered to himself how it was this easy to climb the wall. 

_I have no idea what I’m doing and this seems really simple.  Like I’ve done it before.  It must just be the wall.  I’ll have to tell her to fix it._

He reached the top and climbed onto the balcony, crouching low and hiding in the shadows.  Relena’s light was on in her room but he didn’t see anyone inside.  He slowly crept to the double glass doors, making sure to walk lightly.  He didn’t want to alarm her if she was indeed inside and heard his footsteps. 

 

He peered in to see that indeed there was no one inside the room.  Jack took a deep breath and tried the handle on the door.  It opened right up.  _What is she thinking leaving her doors unlocked!_

He stepped in to the room and looked around.  The room was painted light blue, completely opposite to the pink he was expecting.  Directly across from him was the door leading to the hallway and the rest of her large house.  To his right against the wall was a brown, wooden vanity table and mirror that held her makeup and jewelry.  Directly next to that was her closet.  To his left was her king size, four poster bed.  Her blankets were light blue with brown and royal blue pillows.  On the left wall was another door that led to her private bathroom.  Inside her bathroom, he could hear the shower running.

 

He walked to her vanity.  Multiple pictures in silver frames decorated the desk.  One picture was of the braided man with his arm around a girl with short, violet hair waving at the camera.  Another was of the Chinese man with his arms crossed and looking quite annoyed as a blonde woman beside him spoke to him.  Another picture was of Relena, a blonde man, Duo, and the girl he had his arm around in the other picture.  They were all having a picnic under a tree.  _That blonde man…_   Jack remembered that man from the visions he had when Duo was over.  There was another picture with the man with bangs over one eye.  He was in a clown suit.  The woman beside with red hair was posing in a leotard with a handful of knives.

 

Jack back away from the pictures slowly.  He knew those men.  He didn’t know how but he knew them.  _How is this possible?_   His knees felt weak.  Something caught his eye.  He turned to see a stuffed bear perched on the bed.  He walked the rest of the way to the bed and picked up the bear with a red bow.  He felt his heart clench.  _What is going on here?!_

 

He looked to his left to the bedside table.  The bear dropped to the floor.  Upon the table sat one more picture.  In a silver frame was a picture of him.  He wore a white tux and was looking over his shoulder at the person taking the picture.  He picked up the famed photo to take a better look.  He looked at the area around him in the picture, and then looked up around the room, then back to the picture.  In this picture, he was in this room; _in Relena’s room._

 

_What the hell is going on?!_

 

He jumped as a scream across the room brought him out of his thoughts.  Relena stood with her hand over her racing heart.   She wore a pair of her black pajama bottoms and a blue tank top.  Both looked too big for her.  She stared at him in shock.

 

“Jack?”  She took a step forward.  “What are you doing here?”  He answered her question with his own, holding up the picture for her to see.

 

“What is this?” He demanded.  Relena paled and straightened.  One arm moved to wrap around her waist while the other brought her thumb to her mouth to chew on her nail.  “Relena, when was this picture taken?”  Her mouth moved but no words came out.  She looked extremely nervous and he was starting to get upset.  “You know who I am, don’t you?”  He dropped the picture and took a step toward her.  Relena dropped her arms to her side when he placed both hands gently on her shoulders.  “Tell me, Relena.”  She shook her head.

 

“I can’t,” she said softly.  The door burst open to his right but neither of them paid attention.  A blonde man rushed in and stopped short at the sight in front of him.

 

“Why not?  Who was I?”  Jack said forcefully with a slight shake.  “Was I a bad person?”  At that moment, Duo ran in with his gun drawn, the girl from the picture close behind.  He did the same as the blonde, stopping short as soon as he saw what was happening and dropped his aim.  He frowned at the sight and moved forward.

 

“Hey, get your hands off-“ but he was cut of short in both his demanding and his walking as the blonde shot out his arm in front of him.

 

“Wait,” he breathed in anticipation.  Duo looked to his empathic blonde friend before turning his gaze back to the couple. 

 

“No, Jack.  You don’t understand.  You-“

 

“Is that even my name?  Jack?”  He asked.  Tears began welling in Relena’s eyes and he was finding it hard to keep up this interrogation.  But he had to know who he was.  He just had to.

 

“Jack, I can’t-“

 

“Just tell me, Relena.”

 

“No.  I won’t-“

 

“Tell me, Relena.”

 

“Stop-“

 

“Tell me!”

 

“You were a soldier!”  She finally yelled out.  Everyone in the room’s breath caught.  Jack released Relena’s shoulders while Duo let out a very audible “holy shit”.  Relena took a moment to compose herself.

 

“A soldier?  For who?  Oz?”  He remembered his coworker telling him about the Eve Wars.  Could he have really worked for Oz?  But Relena shook her head, finally ready to speak again.

 

“No.  You fought on behalf of the colonies.”  She stated.  “When Oz and the Alliance were fighting, certain citizens trained five very special pilots to lead a new assault.  You were one of those five.” 

 

Jack took a step back.  He looked over to the blonde and Duo.  They looked back intently.  His gaze dropped to the floor as visions crossed in front of his eyes.  Those four boys again.

 

“You were trained from a very young age to fight.  Dr. J sent you on a mission; Operation-“

 

“Meteor.”  He finished.  _Where did that come from?!_ An old man with a mechanical hand came into his view.  Relena nodded in response but he didn’t see it.  Instead, he saw himself in a mobile suit.  _I know how to pilot a mobile suit?_

 

“Yes.  The five of you fought hard.  You’ve been capture, self-detonated, killed many, and saved so many more.”  Jack took a few more steps back and grabbed his head.  Images flew at him like darts and his head throbbed from the large amount on information attacking it.  He remembered his training, flying to the Earth in his suit, standing on a ship with Relena while Duo pointed a gun at him, self-detonating his suit with him inside, sitting in a cell with the Chinese man while Duo was thrown in, being controlled by the Zero system, pointing a gun at Relena…

 

“All of you fought to save the colonies but you…..you saved all of us.”

 

“Libra…”  He breathed before crashing to his knees.  The pain in his head was growing and he felt like it was going to explode.  Relena didn’t stop.  She couldn’t.  It was too late to stop now.

 

“You destroyed Libra, preventing it from dropping on the Earth.  A year later, you broke through Dekim Barton’s defenses after you, Duo, and Trowa stopped a colony from crashing into Earth. 

 

“You were my bodyguard….and the love of my life.  Gundam pilot 01 of Wing Gundam.  The Perfect Soldier.  Code named…” she took a deep breath “…Heero Yuy.”

 

As she said his name, he felt like his head had been hit with a hammer.  Everything came back all at once.  He heard himself yell out in pain.  Visions…memories…flew at him so fast he couldn’t grasp at any particular one.  His mind was going into overload and he didn’t know how much more he was going to be able to take. 

 

Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, the pain stopped.  His hands moved from his head to the floor to help hold him up.  His breathing was ragged and sweat dripped off his face onto the beige carpet below him.  He was in all fours, trying to calm his raging senses.  The room was deadly silent apart from his hard breathing.

 

Relena looked at their audience for some sort of suggestion.  They looked just as lost as she.  She turned back to the man on the floor.

 

“Jack?”  She whispered.  He didn’t answer.  He didn’t move.  He just stared at the floor.  She took a soft step forward. 

 

“Relena,” Duo warned, taking a step toward her.  But she held her hand up to stop him.  He obeyed but kept his eyes on the man on the floor and the gun clutched in his hand.  There was no telling what had just happened to him and how he would react.  Duo wouldn’t… _couldn’t_ kill him.  But he could damn sure take out a knee cap if he had too.  He was pretty sure the man would forgive him later given his reasons….pretty sure…

 

“Jack?”  Relena asked a bit louder.  Still, he didn’t acknowledge her.  She was nervous and scared at the same time.  Carefully, she approached him all the way and crouched to his level.  She took a deep breath before asking in a very soft voice, “Heero?”

 

His head snapped up to look straight at her.  His eyes looked cold and hard for just an instant before softening up. 

 

“Lena…” he breathed.  Her eyes went wide in surprise and tears shot to her eyes.  She flung herself into his arms that caught her in a tight embrace.  Duo let out another, “holy shit!”

 

“Oh, Heero!”  She cried into his shoulder.  “I’ve missed you so much.”  He buried his head in the crook of her neck and ran his hands through her hair.  “I’m so sorry!  I’m so sorry.”

 

Heero said nothing.  He couldn’t speak.  His emotions were overwhelming him and he tried hard not to cry himself.  He failed as he felt one tear slide down his cheek.  He looked up to the people watching.  Quatre’s eyes were full of tears, Hilde was already crying silently, her hands clamped over her mouth, and Duo just looked on in shock.

 

He turned his attention back to the woman in his arms.  Grabbing her shoulders lightly, he pulled her away enough to look at her face.  Tears streaked down her cheeks, she smiled back at him and sniffed.  He smiled back and wiped the tears still falling.  Carefully, he removed the necklace around his neck and held it out for her to see.  She giggled a bit as he brought it over her head to rest around her neck.    The blonde looked down at the dove and played with it with her fingers before looked back to him. 

 

His hands went to clasp her cheeks and he pulled her into a kiss.  She smiled against his lips and snaked her arms around his neck.  His hands moved to wrap around her waist and hold her right against him as his tongue ran the length of her bottom lips.  She gladly opened her mouth, inviting in his wandering tongue.  All the tension, the stress, the hurt from the last year all dissipated as tongues battled.

 

When finally neither had any air left in their lungs, Heero pulled away.  They stared at each other, memorizing every feature about the other.  Heero took her hands and stood, bringing her with him.  Now that they were standing, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for another hug.  She giggled and played with his hair.  He pulled away and turned to the others in the room.  Quatre walked over and gave him a hug.

 

“It’s good to have you back, Heero.”  Heero tensed for a moment before carefully giving his blonde friend a small hug back.  As soon as Quatre pulled away, a small, short haired girl rushed to him, throwing her arms around his neck, lifting her feet so Heero had to hold her.

 

“Oh, Heero.  You have no idea how much we all missed you.”  Said Hilde.  He put her down and she took a step away from him, still smiling.  Suddenly someone grabbed her shoulder and pushed her out of the way.

 

“My turn!”  Duo cried as he charged Heero with open arms.  Heero curled his hand into a tight fist and as soon as the braided pilot got close, he socked him in the stomach.  Everyone in the room gasped as Duo clutched his stomach and fell to his knees.

 

“Heero!”  Relena admonished.  Heero looked down at the man in pain.

 

“If you ever touch her again, I will kill you.”  He glared.  Hilde tried to stifle a giggle.

 

“Man….that was harsh….” Duo coughed.  Heero huffed and held his hand out to Duo’s level.  The former Deathscythe pilot looked at it for a moment before accepting the offer.  Heero pulled him back up to a standing position and straight into a tight hug.  Duo’s eyes widened, as did everyone else’s, before he wrapped his arms back around his best friend.

 

“Thank you….brother,” Heero breathed in Duo’s ear.  Duo broke into a huge grin and hugged the man tighter.

 

“Anytime, man.”  He answered happily.  Heero pulled away and turned to Relena, who came to him.  He wrapped his arm around her waist and looked to everyone.  “So….”  Duo grinned.  “How ‘bout that drink?”

 

~*~^~*~

 

AHHHH!!!  I was so excited to write this chapter.  This is the one chapter that created this whole story.  Yay!!!!  Epilog and that’s it!  I hope you guys liked it!


	10. Chapter 10

This is the final chapter!  The epilog!  This is the last chapter and will cover any holes in the story; do a little explaining.

 

Lawyer:  NOOOOO!!!!!!!   ….Well, at least I can get back to work now…

 

Me:  That’s very true.  Don’t forget me when you leave….you know, you can even share the wealth a little bit….

 

Lawyer:  ………BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

Me: ……it wasn’t that funny….

 

Lawyer:  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

Me:   -_-‘

 

Lawyer:  HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

Me:  Okay, I don’t own Gundam Wing….On with the epilog….

 

~*~v~*~

 

Four friends now sat in the living room; Duo and Hilde sat on one couch while Relena sat snuggled up with Heero on the other.  They had now turned their shot glasses into full glasses and a 2-liter of coke, now half empty, sat on the coffee table, along with the bottle of liquor.  They had decided against taking shots, instead choosing to continue their night with mixed drinks.  They laughed and joked amongst each other.  Finally Quatre joined them from Relena’s office.

 

“Well, I called Trowa and let him know what happened.  I also called Sally so she could let Wufie know and I left a message for Une.”  He reported as he took a seat Indian style on the floor on the other side of the coffee table.

 

“What did Sally say?”  Hilde asked as she picked up her drink to take a sip. 

 

“She was very excited.  She said that she wants to see him first thing in the morning for an examination.”

 

“Sally,” Heero said.  “She was my doctor when I woke up.  I thought she looked familiar but I assumed it was just because I had seen her before my surgery.  She looked upset before I left the hospital.”

 

“It was killing her to see you like that.  But she wouldn’t let anyone else take over your care.  Plus, she was the only one I trusted with you and to also 23give you that envelope.”  Relena looked up at him.

 

“The envelope.  Full of money.”  He stated, not really a question but Relena nodded in response.  “Thank you for that.”  Relena smiled and shrugged.

 

“It was the least I could do.  You have no idea how hard it was to leave you at that hospital; knowing the enormous possibility that you would wake up with no knowledge of who you were and no one there to help you.”  Her eye filled with tears.  Heero hugged her tightly against his chest and kissed the top of her head.  He directed his next question to Quatre, not wanting Relena to have to answer.

 

“What would have happened if I had woke up _with_ my memory?”  Quatre sighed in response.

 

“We were waiting in Sally’s office down the hall.  Had you woken with your memory, we would have been there in seconds.”  He replied.  Heero nodded and looked to Duo. 

 

“Who is the man who shot me?”

 

“His name was Marcus Sheere.  He was a rebel from the former White Fang who was not quite right up here.”  The braided man tapped his own head.  “He thought he was defending Zechs’ honor by killing the sister who ‘opposed him’.”  He wiggled his fingers in the air.

 

“Was?”  Heero questioned.  “What happened to him?”  Relena moved to look up at him, wiping away the few stray tears that had escaped.

 

“He was put in jail.  While he was in there, someone killed him.  It was just after you woke up.  They never found out who did it but we know it wasn’t another inmate.”  She answered.  Heero frowned.

 

“How do you know it wasn’t an inmate?”

 

“He was shot in the head, execution style.  Inmates don’t have guns.”  Heero looked at Duo as Relena continued to explain.  Duo stared at him intently and gave him a small smirk.  “We checked the bullet against the guns of all of the prison guards but they didn’t match.  We still haven’t found who did it.”

 

_“And I got my payback.”_

Heero nodded once at his braided friend and gave him a small smile before turning back to his love.

 

“I really don’t see a reason to continue the investigation, do you?”  He inquired.  She smiled back at him.

 

“No.  There isn’t. The case is still open but no one has really put in any effort to find his killer.  I may as well ask for the case to be closed.”  She agreed.  Heero looked back to Duo who grinned his appreciation.  Relena followed Heero’s gaze to a grinning Duo who tore his eyes from her and grabbed his drink.

 

“You know,” the braided man said, looking into his glass as he took a sip.  “Not everyone vowed to never kill again.  There is no telling who did it.”  He grinned.  Beside him Hilde rolled her eyes.  Relena looked confused from Duo to Quatre who shrugged, to Heero who held a blank look. 

 

“So, Heero,” Hilde interrupted the awkward silence.  “How was the normal life?”

 

“Boring.”  He answered.  He looked down at Relena, locking Prussian blue eyes to sky blues.  “Don’t you ever give me the normal life again.  I will take a screwed up life with you over a normal life any day of the week.” 

 

“I’m sorry, Heero.  You told me how you grew up.  If there was a chance for you to live normal and not in the middle of everything…..if there was a chance you could be looked at as a normal man instead of a Gundam Pilot, risking your life everyday-“

 

“Stop,” he interrupted.  “I will always take being a Gundam pilot and your protector over working at a coffee shop.”

 

“Ha!”  Duo laughed.  Heero turned to glare at the braided man.  “I’m sorry, man.”  He waved him off.  “Just the thought of you serving coffee….priceless!”  Relena giggled, directing her loves attention to her.

 

“You do make a mean cup of coffee, babe,” she winked before leaning up to kiss him lightly on the lips.

 

“So what’s next?”  Quatre asked.

 

“Well, it’s obvious, ain’t it?  We all live happily ever after!”  Duo cheered. 

 

“You know, the public is going to freak when they see Heero again.”  Hilde said, blatantly ignoring Duo.  “They think you’re dead.”  Heero frowned.

 

“We didn’t want them going after you in your normal life.  You didn’t need that.”  Quatre explained.

 

“It would have ruined everything we put together!”  Duo cried out.  “It was hard giving you a normal life.  We had to pull some strings!”

 

“What strings?”  Heero demanded.  Relena sat up and turned to face him.

 

“There were a few people who knew who you were.  Your boss for one-“

 

“Al?  Al knew who I was?”  Relena nodded in response.

  
“The guy you bought your house from, too.”   Duo added.  Heero looked to him, a shocked look on his normally passive face.  _He learned some emotions being Jack,_ Duo smiled.

 

Quatre cleared his throat.  “They knew who you were.  They recognized you from the news.”

 

“We were able to bribe the guy you bought your house from.”  Hilde said.  “He was completely understanding and didn’t even want to take the bribe….said he would do his best to help out.  We gave him some money anyway as thanks.  Your boss on the other hand…”

 

“He wanted to go to the press.  Said he would be rich by “uncovering this fraud.”  I took care of him too.”  Duo said slyly with a smirk.  Heero remembered his first day of work.  After his interview the day before, he had come in to see his boss with a severely swollen and black eye and a busted lip.  When Heero had questioned him about it, Al seemed to get very nervous and jumpy and replied, ‘Nothing.  Nothing happened.  I’m fine.  It was nothing.”  Heero didn’t bring it up again after that.

 

“Too?”  Relena turned and questioned him.  Duo smile faltered.

 

“I remember that.”  Heero said, drawing the attention away from Duo, to which the braided man again smiled his thanks.  “Al came in with a black eye and a busted lip.” 

 

“Yeah, Duo scared him senseless.”  Relena admonished, shooting a look in his direction.  Duo leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, looking pouty.

 

“Yeah, well, he deserved it.”  He grumbled.  Beside him Hilde giggled.  Relena shook her head but gave him a small smile.  Quatre stifled a laugh in his drink.

 

Heero lightly touched Relena’s leg, drawing her attention to him.  “I’ve got to go.”  Her eyes widened.

 

“What?  Why?  Where are you going?”  She pleaded.  Everyone turned to look at him.

 

“I have Carrie at home.  I can’t leave her alone all night.” He explained.

 

“Oh.  Well maybe you can bring her here?”  She asked.

 

“Or you could go there.”  Quatre offered. 

 

“When did you get a dog?”  Came Duo.  “I never would have expected that from you.”

 

“Right after I started work.  One of my coworkers found a few puppies in a box at the dump by her house.  She told us about them and I offered to take one.  I like dogs.”  He looked to Relena.  “Would you like to come home with me?”  Her face broke into a smile that took over her whole face and reached her eyes. 

 

“I would love that.”  She said softly.  He stood, turned to face her still on the couch and held his hand out to help her stand.  She gratefully took it and stood up gracefully.  The others around them watched but to the couple, they faded in the distance.  They only saw each other.

 

He gave her a small smile which she returned whole heartedly.  He reached his hand out and grabbed a bit at her shirt.  “These look a bit big for you.” 

 

She took a step closer to him while holding her smile.  “Yeah, well, they aren’t mine.  They belonged to a past love,” she teased.

 

“Do they now?  Maybe you should trade them in for something from your new love,” he teased back.  She shrugged and played with his shirt by his chest, not looking up at him.

 

“I don’t know.  I kinda like them.  Maybe you can convince me otherwise.”  She gave him a suggestive look.

 

“Get a room!”  Duo cried out, bringing the two out of their revere.  Heero shot him a glare before turning his gaze back to Relena.

 

“Let’s go home.”  He said.  She nodded and took his hand as he led her to the front door.  He stopped when he reached it and turned to look at the rest of the occupants of the room.  “Thank you.”  He said.  All three tipped their glasses to him with a smile.  He gave them a rare one back and walked Relena out the door.  Outside, they could hear him say something about meeting his neighbor.

 

Duo looked around the room as Quatre stood to take the seats on the couch recently vacated.  “So, this was an interesting night.”

 

“Yes, it was.”  Quatre answered.

 

“So what do we do now?”  Hilde asked, looking between the two friends.

 

“We have the house to ourselves and a fridge full of alcohol.  What do _you_ think?” Duo grinned, holding his glass out.  The other two held theirs to meet his.

 

“To Jack.”  Duo toasted.  The other two smiled.

 

“To Jack!”

 

~*~^~*~

 

The end!!!!!  I hope you guys liked it!!!  I’ve already started on my next fic.  Hopefully I’ll have that out soon!  Mwah!

~NinjetteTwitch

 


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